Roads Untraveled
by Advocaat
Summary: Pirates, balls, palm readers... They say not to weep for roads untraveled, but I say all that salt's gotta go somewhere. (Zutara Month 2018)
1. Vigilantes

Hey, guys and gals! Long time no write. I've emerged from my chrysalis to bring Zutara tidings for that first time in an embarrassingly long time this holiday season. I'm super pumped to be participating in Zutara Month again after so many years and I hope you'll all enjoy what I'm bringing to the table in 2018.

This year I'm dedicating all the stories I write to my best buddy in the world, **Boogum**. I owe her about a Zutara Month's worth of ZK fanfiction so all of this is for her. December is her birth month so be sure to go and give her some birthday cheer!

I'm going to do my best to fill every one of the prompts but know that some may be very short in order to put more energy into others. I'd rather have a handful of really good stories interspersed with drabbles than thirty "meh" stories. I'm not a fan of half-assing my writing so I'm going to limit that as much as possible. Fingers crossed that I can complete all the prompts this year!

Without further ado, let's get this party started!

* * *

 **Day One**

Vigilantes

(I don't know if you can really call this vigilantism, but the theme is similar.)

* * *

"This is crazy! I can't believe I let you talk me into doing this."

On the other side of a small, wooden table situated in a dimly lit corner of one of the many sea-front taverns of Linfen, a bustling port town in the Western Earth Kingdom, Zuko sat watching Katara with a look caught halfway between unimpressed and distressed.

Katara scowled right back. "It's not like I had much of a choice, you know," she informed him tetchily. "There's no way I could bring Aang. He's way too recognizable. Not to mention flamboyant. He'd get us caught immediately."

Zuko placed an elbow on the table and dropped his forehead onto his palm, his fingers sliding up into his hair. "It's not asking me to help you that I have a problem with. It's what you're asking me to do. You do realize that if I get caught pretending to be a pirate, it's going to turn into a huge scandal for the Fire Nation."

"The Fire Nation is already facing international scandal if we don't find out who's selling poached elephant-whale ivory to the members of your court. And besides, I've yet to hear any better suggestions."

Zuko had nothing to say to that, just as she expected. Clearly knowing he was beat, he changed the subject. "By the way, how did you get Aang to agree to this, anyway? I'd think he'd be the last person to be okay with you…" he trailed off and gestured pointedly at her outfit and make-up, both of which had been painstakingly selected to help her blend in with the sorts of women one would naturally expect to find hanging out with pirates. "I mean, think of what people are going to say if they find out that the Avatar's girlfriend is running around dressed like a..." He trailed off again and his one visible eye widened in sudden realization. Katara knew then that he'd finally pieced the truth together. "Oh, my god. He doesn't know."

Katara opened her mouth to get a word in before Zuko inevitably descended into exposition but unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough.

"He doesn't know," he repeated, redirecting his gaze to the table. " _Of course_ he doesn't know. You're going behind him again just like you did with that governor in Huinong. Spirits, I should've seen this coming after the hot water you got me into _that time_ but you _swore_ that would be a one-time thing." He raised his head and pointed at her accusingly. "This is going to come crashing down on my shoulders again. You know Aang is going to think I encouraged you."

Katara crossed her arms and tapped her pointer finger on the table top in mild irritation. "Oh, relax, Zuko," she told him, leaning forward over the table. "This is nothing like that time and Aang will get over it once I explain things to him. Jeez, becoming Fire Lord has made you so high strung."

Zuko scowled at her and as earnestly as she'd ever heard him said, "I've always been high strung."

Katara's cheeks puffed out and she didn't even try to stop the laughter that burst out of her at his statement. When she was finished, she wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Your words, not mine."

Zuko exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. Katara wondered if he was counting backward from ten. After a short break of silence, he said, "I can't believe I'm being told to loosen up by you, of all people. Aren't you the one always tugging the leash on Aang—talking him out of goofing around and making him perform his duty seriously? Why is it that you always seem to suddenly crave chaos whenever I'm in the picture?"

Katara scoffed. "It's not 'craving chaos'," she informed him, using her pointer and middle fingers to mime quotation marks. "There are just certain things that I can do with you that I can't do with him. For instance, I can count on you to be responsible. I know you'll take our missions seriously so I can afford to take a few risks. That's all."

She watched Zuko consider this and knew that he understood. He knew as well as she did the reason she'd become, for lack of better words, a tight-ass where her friends and boyfriend were concerned. As another who had been unceremoniously shoved into the role of team-parent during their adventure a year ago, he could appreciate her need to play the part of the responsible party.

Sure enough, Zuko gave in with a sigh. "Alright," he relented. "I'm already in this far and I know you'll go through with this with or without me so it's not like I have much choice."

Katara smiled brightly and reached across the table to take his hand in a firm grip. "Team Liquidy-Hot?" she prompted with a small smirk.

Zuko made a big show of rolling his eyes but his lips turned upward to mirror hers and he shook their clasped hands once. "Team Liquidy-Hot."

oOo

* * *

Katara hummed jovially to herself in the inn's dingy mirror as she slipped another pearl pin into her hair. Styling her hair into the elaborate up-do of a tavern floozy had become nearly second nature after four consecutive days of the same afternoon ritual. Each day, her disguise was slightly different. Today was blue and pearls. Yesterday was goldenrod and jade. The day before that was crimson and opals. And so-on it would go until she and Zuko found what they were looking for.

Finding the poachers responsible for the killing and selling of Southern Water Tribe elephant-whales was a slow process, but Katara was confident that her plan would bear fruit soon. Each evening, she and Zuko made the rounds in the port's most notorious taverns and at each one they put on the same performance.

" _Do you see that man over there?"_ she'd whisper to whatever hapless, drunken pirate happened to darken the seat beside her at the bar. _"They say he can get you anything."_

All night long, she'd gossip in the ears of pirates and bar wenches alike, helping the rumor to spread throughout the town. Meanwhile, Zuko would sit at a table not far away, his royal robes swapped out for a stiff jacket and leather boots and a scarf wrapped around his head to hide his scar and turn greedy eyes with short, strategic glimpses of priceless Fire Nation treasures hidden in the pockets of his jacket—treasures liberated from the catacombs beneath his palace.

Last night, they had upped their game by showing off a few invaluable water tribe pieces that Katara had "borrowed" during her last visit to her village. She'd felt guilty for pinching the prized jewelry right from under her father and grandmothers' noses but it was for the sake of maintaining peace between the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation and Katara knew the jewelry would be the ticket they needed to get the attention of the right people.

Katara nodded to herself as she put the finishing touches on her make-up. Tonight, they would get a bite. She was sure of it.

"Out of curiosity," Zuko muttered as she clung like a trollop to his arm while they walked down the dusk-lit street to their first tavern of the night. "Where _is_ Aang? I'm guessing you made up a story to keep him off our scent?"

Katara made a big production of batting her eyelashes up at him like she'd seen countless other girls here do to keep any passersby convinced of their charade before answering in a hushed voice. "I've got him searching for clues in the Fire Nation. He thinks I'm doing the same back home. You know, divide and conquer."

Zuko's good eye widened and he turned his head to look down at her in alarm. "You sent him to the Fire Nation?" He lifted a hand to push back his shaggy fringe in exasperation. "Why would you send him there? He's almost certainly figured out that I'm gone by now. You know he's going to put two and two together and realize where I went."

Katara sighed and smacked his arm. "You really do worry too much. Listen, by the time Aang figures out where we are, we'll have already bagged our target. When he asks how we did it, we'll just bend the truth a little."

Zuko shook his head. "You're digging me in deeper and deeper. I think you're underestimating him."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Just don't worry about Aang, alright? I'll take the fall if he tries to accuse you. He needs to respect that I'm capable of making my own decisions and that I don't need to explain myself to him. I have to watch him go off and do as he pleases without any input from me all the time. I should be allowed to do the same."

Zuko frowned. His brow was creased in a way that told Katara he was working through a problem in his head. "Katara…" he said her name with a touch of concern, "is everything okay between you and Aang?"

Katara felt her cheeks heat from embarrassment at talking so openly about her feelings regarding Aang and she turned her face away to hide it. "Everything's fine," she assured him quickly. "Just peachy." She quickened her pace, pulling him toward the tavern. "Come on. Let's just get to the bar and get this over with."

o0o

* * *

Just as Katara suspected, showing off the stolen Water Tribe heirlooms attracted the attention of just the people they'd been hoping to snag. That night, a pair of comparably well-dressed pirates approached Zuko to inquire about his so-called legendary skills. Katara listened covertly to their conversation from a nearby stool where she pretended to be focused on a conversation with a group of washed out sailors.

The pirates were cautious at first, but when Zuko showed them the items she'd given to him, they sweetened right away. Katara saw the greedy glimmer in their eyes as they drank in the priceless artifacts and when they asked what means Zuko used to procure such treasures, Katara took that as her cue to excuse herself from the sailors and saunter over to their table. She gave the duo a sultry look as she slid onto the bench beside Zuko and snuck her arm around his, cozying up to his side. "I couldn't help overhearing that you boys are looking to get your hands on some Water Tribe paraphernalia," she interjected smoothly, lowering her voice to disguise her age. She batted her eyelashes at them, making certain the blue of her irises caught the light. "You came to the right man." She used her grip on Zuko's arm to raise her body upward in order to pepper a few light kisses to the area near Zuko's ear, never once taking her eyes off the pirates. "He just might know a gal that can set you up with what you need."

Zuko stiffened in her grip but managed to keep a straight face. Katara knew she'd surprised him with her actions. Well, she _had_ warned him that she intended to be authentic in acting her part. She allowed her free hand to travel to his thigh and she gave it a short caress. The pirates followed the motion with hungry eyes and she knew she'd snared them. "If you're interested in doing business, tell your captain to come to the southernmost docks in thirty minutes. We'll discuss our fee there." She lowered her eyelids to half-mast and leaned forward so that her artfully squished cleavage spilled enticingly out of the front of her dress. "Bring as many friends as you want."

The pirates ogled her openly until the weight of Zuko's traveler's cloak appeared on her shoulders, blocking the view. The pirates seemed to regain their composure then and nodded curtly. "We will relay your message," the one on the left said quickly. He stood, pulling his partner up with him and tipped his hat. "Until then."

The duo hurriedly exited the tavern, their excitement obvious in their gait. Katara fastened the cloak as she watched them go and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. Roleplaying the sinful pirate wench had been surprisingly fun. She didn't normally get to feel sexy.

" _Bring as many friends as you want?"_ Zuko repeated incredulously beside her. Katara turned to look at him and found his cheeks flaming.

Katara winked up at him. "This way we can get them all at once," she explained, directing her grin at him. "Never underestimate the persuasive power of feminine wiles."

Zuko shook his head, his face still aflame. "I won't. Believe me."

oOo

* * *

As promised, the whole pirate crew turned up to meet them on the docks thirty minutes later. Just as Katara had been hoping, they'd come alone. She and Zuko had been prepared for the pirates to go to the authorities instead of their captain, but it seemed their caution was unneeded.

At the sight of the man who could only be the poachers' captain, Katara's eyes widened. All at once, she understood how he and his crew had managed to hunt whales right under her tribe's noses. Though he was dressed in Earth Kingdom browns and greens, he couldn't disguise his dark skin or sea-blue eyes.

Hanook, northern warrior and vice-ambassador to the Southern Water Tribe, wore a greedy smile as he and a man Katara assumed was his first mate approached them on the pier. "Ahoy there," he called to them in a cheerful tone. "My crew told me you two are the ones to see about striking a lucrative deal." He stopped before them and his eyes traveled over them curiously. "I'll admit that I'm impressed a mere two-man team has been able to infiltrate right to the Southern Water Tribe's heart." His gaze found Katara and his smile turned to a smirk. "But I suppose a pretty thing like you could worm your way into any man's coffers."

Katara shivered under the vice-ambassador's leering gaze. She'd always thought the man was a little shifty, but now he was being downright creepy. To think he'd been taking advantage of her tribe's trust to poach elephant-whales in their very own waters. She never imagined the crook responsible would be Water Tribe. It was a betrayal that hit hard. She shook off her discomfort and narrowed her eyes. "So, you were the one killing our whales," she spoke clearly, enunciating each syllable. "Hanook of the Northern Water Tribe."

Hanook's eyes widened and he took a step back. Beside him, his first mate put a hand on the hilt of his sword. They'd been caught and they knew it. "How do you know my name, wench?" he demanded, his smirk now gone.

Katara scowled at him and dropped into a bending stance. "Don't tell me you don't even recognize the face of the Southern Water Tribe's most powerful waterbending master," she called to him. "Even though we've shared a supper table countless times."

Realization rearranged Hanook's features. His eyes swept her face again and this time she saw recognition in them. A look that spelled 'oh shit' appeared on his face and he whirled around to bark at his assembled crew. "The deal's off! Take those two out, now!"

What followed was a flurry of action as Hanook's crew leapt to follow their captain's orders. Hanook and his first mate unsheathed their swords. Katara shared a nod with Zuko and the bescarved firebender jumped into action, pulling his own swords from the scabbard on his back and rushing the two-dozen men. His swords flashed in the moonlight as they sung through the air in great whirling strikes, knocking the blades from the pirates' hands so that Katara could immobilize them with ice.

Defeating the pirate hoard was almost too easy and in a matter of minutes, Hanook and his crew were captured and Zuko was calling the authorities to come and retrieve them. While she waited for Zuko to return Katara took it upon herself to interrogate Hanook. "Tell me what you've done with all the ivory you've poached," she demanded in a dangerous tone. "You'd better answer honestly or I'll make certain you remain in jail until you rot."

Just capturing the ivory's supplier wasn't enough. She also needed to identify who was buying it along with any middlemen.

Hanook, now clearly defeated, shook his head helplessly. "I don't have it. This month's harvest has already been sold."

Katara's eyes flashed. "To who?"

Hanook shrank under her furious glare. "A jeweler. He's a big-name merchant in the Earth Kingdom. The man has a side business peddling rare goods to high-profile clients."

Katara frowned. That didn't explain how Fire Nation nobles had been getting their hands on the ivory. Ever since the problem had first come to light, Zuko had cracked down hard on black market transactions in the Fire Nation. Merchant ships and passenger vessels alike were thoroughly inspected for contraband goods upon arrival to Fire Nation ports. "And just who is this merchant?" she pressed. "How is he sneaking our ivory into the Fire Nation?"

Hanook shook his head again. "I don't know. He has buyers who do the purchasing on his behalf and they change every time. I don't even have any means of contacting them. They always come to me."

Katara fought the urge to curse. It sounded like she'd hit a dead end. It was imperative that they discovered the identity of this merchant or he'd merely find other ways of getting what he wanted. The fact that he covered his tracks so thoroughly was to be expected, she supposed.

"Ah, but I do have a theory about where the ivory might be going," Hanook said quickly. "This guy only sells to wealthy and powerful clients. Nobody else could afford to pay his prices. If the ivory is ending up in the Fire Nation, then it's probably being sold directly to members of the nobility somewhere outside the Fire Nation and smuggled back in very small quantities. Large shipments are easy to catch, but individual pieces are much, much harder."

Katara's eyebrows rose. Hanook made a fair point. She hadn't considered that. "And where would these nobles be purchasing these pieces? You said you have an idea."

Hanook nodded. "The answer is simple. We know they're not going to a shop because that would be too easy to trace. No, as I said, the pieces have to be sold to the nobles directly; at a place where it wouldn't be strange to find a large number of wealthy Fire Nation 'customers'. There's only one place, or event, rather, outside the Fire Nation that fits the bill."

Katara's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. There was indeed only one place that matched the ticket. A grin stretched across her face as a plan formed in her mind. She knew just how she was going to peg both the merchant and his buyers.

oO0Oo

* * *

To be continued in Day Twelve.

I'm sorry about splitting this up but this story's just too long to fit into a single day. Several of the prompts are going to be like this. Rest assured, though, that most will be proper oneshots.

I hope you enjoyed Vigilantes and I'll see you again tomorrow for Day Two: Hidden Identity!


	2. Hidden Identity

.

 **Day Two**

Hidden Identity

(I'm shamelessly taking inspiration from Boogum for this one.)

* * *

Katara cursed as the scarf haphazardly wrapped around her face came loose, pooling around her neck. Not far behind her, she could still hear guards shouting. With another curse directed at Toph and Sokka whose screwing around had gotten her into this mess, she ducked into an alley to fix her disguise. The metal coins affixed to her makeshift headscarf jingled loudly as she knotted it in place and she prayed that the guards hadn't seen her ripping the various articles of clothing she now wore off mannequins as she'd run through the crowded boulevard. Not having the luxury of time to choose a proper disguise, what she'd assembled resembled a crazy old crone who owned several possum-cats more than anything approaching the look of a normal Fire Nation teenager.

Catching her reflection in a polished copper pot, she cringed at the sheer eccentricity of the outfit. There was absolutely no way she was going to make it back to her friends dressed like this. She stood out far too much. Spirits, why had they ever thought coming to the capital was a good idea? They were right under the Fire Lord's nose and Team Avatar were about as subtle as a moose-lion in a teashop.

Much to Katara's relief, it seemed as though the guards hadn't caught on to her disguise. She could no longer hear them running about on the main street. She knew better than to think they'd given up, though. One didn't just knock over a whole cart of antique vases and get to walk away scot-free. She just hoped that none of the others had been caught. If the Fire Nation were to find out the Avatar still lived while they were trouncing about in the capital city of all places they were going to be in a world of trouble.

Taking a risk, Katara peeked out from around the corner, trying to get an idea of where she was. Her running had taken her many blocks from where she and her friends had been when Sokka and Toph's fooling around had knocked over the cart and she no longer had any idea what part of the city she was in. The best she could tell from looking around was that she was still in the market district, but close to the end of it. The busy main street terminated after one more block where it was interrupted by an enormous lake. Suspecting she would be safer in an area with fewer people, she slipped out of the alleyway and headed for the lake.

The lake was indeed less crowded. There was a pedestrian path bordering it that broke off from the main street but few people walked along it. The lake seemed to serve more as a reservoir than a place of recreation. With nothing better to do until the market street became safe enough to go searching for her friends, Katara decided to take a walk around the lake. It would give her something to do while she killed time.

The walk from one side of the lake to the other took about thirty minutes and during that time Katara considered their present situation. The day of black sun was fast approaching and sometimes she wondered if they were doing enough to prepare for it. Aang had made no headway toward finding a firebending teacher and while faffing around scamming scammers and holding clandestine dance parties in caves was fun, it was using up precious time. What if the invasion failed? What if Aang's only choice was to fight the Fire Lord before the comet like they'd originally planned? These were the thoughts that haunted Katara at night when she couldn't fall asleep. If only they could find a way to give themselves more time. If only a firebending instructor would just magically appear in front of them, saving them from having to look for one.

"Argh! Why can't anything ever go my way!"

Katara was snapped out of her musings by the frustrated shout coming from the other side of a group of fancy-looking houses. Her wandering had taken her past the lake to a new part of town—a much nicer part.

Curious what part of the city she was in now, Katara wandered up the lane toward where the voice had come from and just as she made to peek around the corner a quickly moving body collided with her, sending her stumbling backward onto her rear. The person who hit her stumbled as well but managed to keep his footing. He winced visibly as she connected with the ground and the next thing Katara knew a hand was being offered to help her up.

Katara took the hand gratefully and opened her mouth to thank the young man for his consideration but the words died in her throat when her eyes landed on his face. "Zuko!" she squeaked before she could stop herself, for the teenager standing before her could be none other but the angry jerk himself. He looked different from when she'd seen him last—his hair was bound in a knot at the top of his head and he wore armor of red and gold—but that face, that scar, was unmistakable.

Zuko raised his one good eyebrow at her slip and she watched his eyes travel over her. They stopped at her eyes, the only visible part of her face under the headscarf, and she thought she saw recognition there for a heart-stopping half second, but then he shook his head and his expression returned to normal. "Um, yeah," he said, looking somewhat confused. His eyes traveled over her outfit again and slowly, as if not sure he really wanted to hear the answer, he asked, "Who are you?"

 _Oh, crap._ Katara cursed in the privacy of her mind. What was she supposed to say? What kind of reasonable explanation could she give for wandering around in one of the Caldera's posh neighborhoods looking like a homeless person?

It was actually Zuko who saved her by asking, "Are you supposed to be a fortune-teller or something? If so, the market's that way." He lifted a hand and pointed back in the direction of the lake. His brow scrunched up in suspicion then and he said, "But you should know that street peddlers aren't allowed in this district. Unless you were asked to come here, I'll have to report you to the authorities."

Katara had thought she was saved, but now she was in even deeper hot water. The last thing she needed was for Zuko to turn her in to the guards. Her cover would get blown for sure and Zuko would know the moment her scarf was off who she was. She'd be lucky if she got away with her life. She could at lease count on being thrown in prison till she rotted.

Panicking, she said the first thing her brain could think of before Zuko could make his mind up to turn her over to the guards. "I—I came here to see you, actually."

Zuko promptly looked at her like she was crazy. "You came here to see me?" he repeated skeptically. "You just ran into me by chance. I don't even live in this part of the city."

Katara inwardly winced at her mistake. She was doing nothing to help her own case. At the risk of digging herself in even deeper, she hurriedly said, "Uh, I knew you would be here! Due to my, um, fortune-telling?"

Honestly, Katara was surprised Zuko was even letting her speak. He'd never struck her as the patient type. She was proved right on that front when Zuko gave her a decidedly unimpressed look and said, "Look, I don't buy into fortune-telling and all that other pseudo-mystical pray-on-the-gullible nonsense." Katara's cheeks flushed as she was reminded of Aunt Wu and how she'd been totally taken in by her fortune telling "I'm really not interested in paying someone to lie to me. So thanks, but no thanks."

Before Katara could even think about making a break for it, Zuko's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. He made to lead her away and in one last-ditch effort to get him to believe her she cried, "Wait! I can prove it!"

To her astonishment, Zuko paused. He turned back around and cocked his head to the side, looking bewildered.

Katara took advantage of his cooperativeness to say, "Just let me do a reading for you. You don't have to pay me. The, uh, spirits asked me to come and find you and I— _they_ won't be satisfied until I've told you your future. You know how spirits are."

The argument sounded weak even to her, but Zuko looked somewhat uncomfortable at the mention of spirits and after a moment's deliberation he relented. "Fine." To her relief, he released her wrist. "But," he tacked on, "that doesn't mean I'll believe what you tell me."

Katara quickly nodded. "Of course."

Spirits, what had she gotten herself into? She inwardly smacked herself. She didn't know the first thing about fortune-telling. This was going to blow up in her face.

But, she reasoned, she couldn't back out now. If she didn't do this, if she couldn't find a way to convince Zuko she was the real deal, she could kiss her freedom goodbye forever.

There was a park bench just a few yards away in the direction of the lake and Katara gestured to it. "Why don't we have a seat? I mean, nobody wants to have their fortune told standing, right?"

Zuko acquiesced, albeit hesitantly, and the two of them made their way over to the bench and sat down. Katara bit her lip as Zuko settled himself beside her. This was so weird. To think that she and Zuko would share not one but two civilized conversations. Although after the way the last one played out she wasn't exactly happy about getting to do it again.

Before she could begin, Zuko gave her another appraising look and asked, "Why do 'the spirits' want you to tell my fortune so badly anyway? I still can't believe you would come all the way over here just to read my palm—or whatever it is you do." He cast his gaze about as if searching for bags of bones or a crystal ball. Of course, Katara had nothing like that.

Katara cast her mind around for an answer that would satisfy him. "Well, that's because…because you, uh…you have a _matter_ weighing heavily on your soul. That's what the spirits told me."

Beneath the ocean of cloth she was swaddled in, Katara crossed her fingers, hoping she was right.

Zuko actually looked taken aback at her declaration. She could tell by his expression that she'd hit the nail on the head.

But just what kind of trouble could _Zuko_ have, she wondered. As far as she could tell, he had everything he'd ever wanted. The Avatar was "defeated", he was back home in the Fire Nation, and his people talked about him like he was a hero. It seemed to her that all ought to be sunshine and rainbows in Zukoland.

Unexpectedly, Zuko's eyes narrowed and his expression turned deadly serious. "And what matter is that, exactly?"

Katara once again cursed in her head. She may have been right, but it sounded like she'd pressed some kind of button. _Don't let yourself be intimidated,_ she told herself. _Stay cool_. In a daring move, she reached out and took his hand. She turned it over and pretended to inspect his palm. His skin was white but calloused in a way that showed he was no stranger to hard work. Recalling his shout from just before they'd collided in the street, she said, "You feel as though the universe is conspiring against you—that there are many things in your life not going the way you believe they should."

She thought Zuko would rip his hand from hers and burn her face off for daring to touch him, but he didn't. He blinked at her in surprise, the threatening look from before falling away. His brow was still furrowed but she read only confusion in the look. "How…?" he started but seemed unable to find the words to construct his question. He started again and this time was successful. "You could tell that just by looking at my palm?"

Katara inwardly celebrated. She'd been right again. Maybe she could get away with this after all. _It's just psychology,_ she told herself. _You're a people person. You can do this._

"The spirits guide my eyes," she said, injecting some mystitude into her voice. She made another grand show of studying his palm and thought about what direction to take this. As long as Zuko was buying what she was selling, she might as well try to get something meaningful out him. It was a rare opportunity to learn more about her enemy, after all. Testing her luck, she said, "I can see that your spirit is in turmoil. Could it be that the home you've returned to isn't what you imagined it would be?" That seemed like a pretty safe bet. It was only natural that the Fire Nation might seem different to him after so many years away.

Zuko's lips thinned and he nodded once slowly. "Yeah," he said, sounding somewhat subdued now. "You could say that."

Katara watched his face curiously. Just for a moment, there'd been a hint of the Zuko in the catacombs in his expression. The look caused a strange mix of feelings inside her. She stuffed those feelings back into the crevice they'd crawled out from.

"But you achieved your destiny," she prodded. "Surely you have no reason to be unhappy?"

Zuko's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, you're right," he submitted. "I should be happy. Achieving your destiny is supposed to make you happy. But…"

Katara nodded encouragingly.

"I don't know." Zuko used his free hand to rub the back of his neck uncomfortably. "It feels wrong."

Katara had to fight not to show her surprise. Could it be that Zuko was second guessing his decision? "Do you…regret killing the Avatar?" she asked tentatively.

Zuko's eyes widened. It seemed her question had hit close to home. He recomposed himself and looked away down at the street. "Of—of course not." His inner struggle was apparent on his face. "It needed to be done." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I fulfilled my destiny, so it had to have been right."

Katara stopped herself from raising an eyebrow skeptically. That was some awfully skewed logic. "Have you ever considered that…maybe you haven't fulfilled your destiny?" she pried. "If it doesn't feel right, then maybe it isn't."

Zuko's face scrunched up incredulously. "Of course it is," he defended quickly. "I know my destiny."

Katara frowned. Zuko was awfully snappy for someone professing to be secure in his rightness. "And who gave you this destiny?" she shot back. "Was it the spirits?"

Once again, Zuko looked uncomfortable. "…No. It was my father."

This time, Katara did raise her eyebrow. "And does the Fire Lord speak on behalf of any higher power?"

"…No."

 _Ha._ Looking directly into his eyes, she said, "It sounds to me like what you were given wasn't a destiny but orders. Just regular orders from a man serving his own interests. You call it your destiny, but even you can see that what you've been doing isn't right. You've hurt people. You've burned down property. Your actions led to the death of a twelve year old boy who never did anything to harm you or the people of the Fire Nation. Now, maybe this _was_ your destiny. But if you accept that, then you accept that you were destined to be a villain."

She was pushing her luck, she knew. She could have just told Zuko to stand on his head under the moon for three nights for good fortune and gone on her merry way, but her stubbornness and hot-headedness had gone and made her all preachy. She would be very lucky if this didn't blow up in her face.

Zuko's brow furrowed in anger. "How can you say that? Do you mean to call my father—the _whole_ Fire Nation villains?"

Katara gave him a pointed look. "What do you think? You've seen the world. You've seen the suffering the Fire Nation is causing. You've experienced it firsthand. There's good and evil in everyone, Zuko, and I think the reason you're unhappy is because the good inside you is telling you that what the Fire Nation is doing is wrong."

She was making an effort to appeal to his better side. As angry as she was at him for what he'd done in Ba Sing Se, there was still a part of her that believed he had one.

"That's…"

Zuko seemed to be floundering so Katara decided to help him out. Speaking to him in a gentler voice, she asked, "Was there never a moment, one tiny instance, when you thought about abandoning your destiny? Tell me honestly."

She knew there had been one. She'd seen his internal conflict on his face when he'd been forced to choose between his uncle and his sister in Ba Sing Se. She wanted to believe that had been real.

Zuko lowered his chin. He was frowning again but not at her. He said nothing, but that was an answer in and of itself. He couldn't bring himself to admit to his own indecision.

"You want to be a good person, don't you?" she asked, still gently. She thought she was beginning to understand. "You've known for a long time that what Ozai is doing is wrong but can't bring yourself to go against him."

Again, Zuko said nothing. Katara frowned sadly and squeezed his hand. "It's not too late to change, you know. You can help put an end to this war. You're not—the Fire Nation's not bound to Ozai's will."

Zuko directed his gaze pointedly down to where she held his hand in a tight grip. "…Is that what your fortune-telling told you?"

Katara blushed and quickly released his hand. She'd become so caught up in their conversation that she'd nearly forgotten the role she was meant to be playing. "Erm, yes," she said lamely. "That's, uh, what the spirits are saying."

Zuko levelled an appraising look at her. "And what are the spirits suggesting I should do, exactly?"

Katara cleared her throat and adjusted her headscarf nervously. "Well, that's up to you. Far be it from a humble fortune-teller like myself to tell my prince how to live his life. I'm just saying that you have options."

Zuko nodded slowly. "Uh…huh."

Clearing her throat again, Katara swiftly stood from her seat. "Well, would you look at the time. I'd best be going now. As you said, people like me aren't supposed to be in this part of town." She took a step backward. "It was nice talking to you, Prince Zuko."

Zuko made no motion to stand from the bench and Katara let out a breath of relief. It seemed he was allowing her to leave. She turned on her heel and began walking back the way she'd come.

She made it all of ten feet before Zuko's voice stopped her. "Wait."

Katara's heart skipped a beat. _Oh, no_. Hesitantly, she turned her neck to look over her shoulder at him. "Um, yes?"

Zuko hadn't moved from the bench. He was watching her with steady eyes. "The Avatar," he said seriously. "If he were still alive…he'd need a firebending teacher, correct?"

Reluctantly, Katara nodded.

Zuko's gaze didn't move from her. "I see."

He said no more after that. He merely stood and began walking away in the opposite direction.

Katara watched him go, her heart racing in her chest. That was…incredibly strange.

Well, no matter. She was free to go and she wasn't going to squander her good luck. She swiftly turned and ran back to the lake.

oO0Oo

* * *

And that's day two. This one was a ton of fun but also surprisingly hard to write. I struggled with both Zuko and Katara's characterization here because both their feelings are in such disarray at this point in the series. Katara is full of anger at Zuko and Zuko is trying to reconcile his ambivalence about being home. I probably should have made Katara angrier and Zuko less cooperative, but I didn't really have the time to fully flesh out their reasoning and thought-processes here. That's the problem with writing stories for a deadline. You gotta keep it moving even though you want to linger. Also, you can probably tell that I'm really terrible at keeping these short anyway. I'm doubly pressed for time when my stupid brain wants to bust out over 3000 words for each day.

A huge thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter! I was delighted to see some familiar faces in my inbox. I hope you enjoyed the second day and I'll see you again tomorrow!


	3. Storm

.

 **Day Three**

Storm

* * *

"There he is."

"He actually came…"

The murmuring in the grand hall quickly hushed as the tall, imposing form of Fire Lord Zuko swept past, black and crimson robes gliding atop the polished floor. They only began again when he was safely out of earshot, en route to take his oft empty spot at the large, ornate council table.

The Fire Lord was a sight scarcely seen these days—always walled up in his palace in the Fire Nation where he worked day and night to keep his country from scattering to the wind like the Northern Water Tribe and the city of Omashu before it. With men and women dropping like flies in great numbers across the globe, it was no great wonder why a man as important and influential as the Fire Lord was kept hidden away in his palace where the Creeping Decay had a far harder time reaching. Many of the more pessimistic folks had taken to whispering that he'd already succumbed to the disease as a reason for his absence from the public eye.

Today, he was proving his skeptics wrong as he nodded to the other world leaders gathered and took his place as naturally as if he'd never been truant. The fact that several of the seats were filled by new faces was an inevitability and one he was prepared for.

The eyes in the hall watched—some with curiosity and some with overt suspicion—his every move as he laid his documents on the table and proceeded to exchange polite greetings with several of the other leaders already assembled. Gossipmongers had been whispering for months how he'd been sweetening to a highly controversial alliance between the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe to share resources in this trying time. Even if gossip was all it was, it was easy to see how the masses could take the rumor seriously when it was famously known that the Fire Lord and the newly instated Chief of the Southern Water Tribe had been comrades in the century-long war that had waged until just four years ago. However, the Fire Lord did not so much as glance in her direction and she made no motion to call his attention. Both wore faces gaunt with stress but controlled so as not to reveal any weakness. The men and women gathered at their table were the pillars of the new world and every man, woman, and child looked to them as beacons in the thick fog of turmoil and unease that had rolled over every corner of the globe.

Without the Avatar, the only entity left to safeguard the tentative harmony between the four nations and guide humanity through this crisis was the Council of Nations. The decisions they made in the coming days would spell either the salvation or doom of every person in the world.

The scribes readied their quills and when each council member was seated and ready, the first day of discussions began.

o0o

* * *

Zuko rubbed his weary eyes as he rolled up the scroll he'd been perusing and cast it onto an end table. The librarians would see that it was returned to its proper place. He stood with a small sigh from the cushioned library chair and headed for the door. He needed to get back to his room and get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be another long, stressful day at the council table and he'd be no good to anyone if he spent the whole day focusing on staying awake.

His trek through the halls of the Earth Palace brought him, not purely by coincidence, past the wing where the Water Tribe apartments were situated, and against his better judgement he paused there. It had been ages since he'd last had a chance to visit with Katara in person and being so close to her at the council table without actually getting to interact with her outside of merely agreeing or disagreeing with a point she made was killing him. With so few friends left in the world, his heart ached for friendly contact.

It was this need that drove his legs down the short, empty corridor to the door he knew she resided just behind. He even raised his hand to knock before his good sense abruptly returned and he dropped it. He shouldn't be here. Being found here would spell no end of trouble for the both of them. He inhaled deeply, exhaled, and turned to go.

He hadn't even taken a step when the door at his back opened with a soft click. He spun around and there she was, watching him with ocean eyes. She didn't look surprised to see him. She worried her bottom lip briefly, showing her deliberation, then opened the door wide and beckoned him inside.

Zuko spared a moment to glance around the corridor once more to make sure nobody was watching and then slipped inside silently as a ghost.

Katara closed the door behind him and when the latch was secured she turned to him and promptly wrapped her arms around his middle. "You shouldn't be here," she murmured into the thick material of his heavy regalia.

Zuko closed his eyes, wishing that by doing so he could cut away the never-ending cycle of tragedy that was their lives now, and returned her embrace. Her hair smelled of arctic ice beneath the sticky haze of Ba Sing Se perfumes. He focused on that familiar scent, allowing it to wash over him and bring him momentarily out of this place. She smelled of happier days spent with friends and a lump of sadness rose in his throat as his heart yearned for the return of those days. "I know. Sorry."

Katara gripped him more tightly and he felt her body tremble. In a voice thick with anguish she said, "I'm glad you're here." Her face turned downward so that the top of her head pressed into his chest and she repeated, "I'm glad you're here."

So, he hadn't been the only one being crushed by despair and loneliness. He held her to him and silently agreed. Often it felt to him like the two of them were the only ones left in the world. In a way, they were. Aang and Toph had been among the first taken by the virus that ravaged all four nations and Sokka had contracted the illness just as he'd been set to take over leadership of the Southern Water Tribe, leaving Katara to run the place in his stead. Suki was still healthy, but she'd bound herself to Sokka's bedside, leaving her second in command to join the council meetings on her behalf. Katara had expressed her fear that it was only a matter of time before the virus took her too in one of her many letters to him over the long winter.

Gone were the days when the six of them had greeted each new day with hope in their hearts. Gone were two—soon to be three—of the friends Zuko cherished. He and Katara had agreed to try their best to live for Aang and Toph, but it was hard. It seemed more and more that there was no hope to be found anywhere these days.

Zuko pulled back causing Katara to raise her head and delicately touched her cheeks with the backs of his fingers. "How are you, Katara?" he asked earnestly. Their letters weren't enough. They never would be. He was going to take advantage of this rare opportunity to ask the questions he always avoided in their correspondences. Here, they could be honest and open with one another.

Katara had been the very picture of strength and composure during their day talks, but now she looked worn and stressed and like she was liable to crumble at the barest touch. The delicate skin beneath her eyes was bruised with fatigue and her complexion was far too pale. Spirits, she— _they_ were too young to look like this.

Katara read the concern in his expression and managed a shadow of a smile. "I'm fine," she lied and both of them knew it wasn't him she was trying to deceive. "Sorry, Zuko. It's just really, really good to see you." She took a half-step back and brought a hand up to rub the wrinkled skin between her eyebrows. "It feels like ages since the last time we were able to meet in person, don't you think? How long has it been?"

Zuko smiled a humorless little smile of his own at her question. "A year and two months."

The last time they'd seen each other had been at a memorial service for Chief Arnook just before the fall of Omashu. After that, Zuko had been pressured to remain in the Fire Nation in order to limit exposure to the disease and he'd been unable to interact with any of his friends outside of sporadic messages which he had to fight his council to even have sent out. He'd only been allowed to attend the Council of Nations meeting this time because he'd put his royal foot down and refused to take no for an answer.

"That long…" Katara exhaled. "So much has happened that it feels like a decade. I don't know how you've been keeping it together all this time."

Zuko frowned. He knew Katara had been struggling to keep the Southern Water Tribe from falling apart. The fall of the Northern Water Tribe had hit the South hard and before he'd taken ill Sokka had written him many letters asking for advice. It had been Sokka's idea to propose that their nations work together to combat the illness. He believed that a marriage of Fire Nation medical science with Water Tribe healing could lead them to a cure. Unfortunately, word of his idea got out and Earth Kingdom leaders immediately began speaking out against the possibility of a union, loudly proclaiming that the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe were conspiring against the Earth Kingdom and that they intended to turn a profit by selling their cure to Earth Kingdom citizens at hiked up prices. The public outcry at this was so intense that several world leaders had threatened to pull out of the Council of Nations if they even suspected that the proposal was still being discussed.

This had put Zuko, and now Katara, in a very tricky situation. Though untrue, the rumor had a set a precedent for people to believe that the Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation may intend to conspire again. Many Earth Kingdom citizens had begun to lose faith in the Council, believing that the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe were only looking out for their own best interests. It was too much to deal with on top of everything else and Zuko could honestly say that he was past the point of caring.

"A mixture of experience and stubbornness," he answered, only half joking.

The two lapsed into a charged silence. Zuko knew what Katara wanted to say and she in turn knew what he wanted to say. The only thing stilling their tongues had been the council but looking at Katara's face, so pale and fatigued and full of sorrow, Zuko decided that enough was finally enough. "Katara," he broke the silence to address her directly. "Send a message to the Southern Water Tribe. Assemble your best healers and have them pack their things. I'm going to send a ship to bring them to the Fire Nation."

Katara's eyes widened and she pulled away. "Zuko, you can't," she protested. "The council—"

Zuko cut her off by taking a step forward and grasping her upper arms. "I don't care. The world's already gone to hell, so what's one more war?" Squeezing her arms tightly but gently he leaned in and placed his forehead near hers. "We're about to be all that's left, Katara. We need to find a cure. Send the message. I'll mobilize my navy. If we're lucky, we can transport your healers back to the Fire Nation without the Earth Kingdom noticing."

Katara grimaced and closed her eyes briefly. "You're going to make the world your enemy," she warned when she opened them again. "What if we can't find a cure? We'll have pitted the Earth Kingdom against us for nothing."

Giving her a determined look, Zuko released one of her arms to grab her hand and pressed it firmly to the spot on his chest where Azula's lightning scar still marked him with a starsplash of red. "I believe that you can do it."

Katara inhaled a shuddering breath and then exhaled. He saw resolve steel in her eyes. She was still so beautiful, he thought privately, even with the weight of tragedy crushing and wilting her. He would protect her. He had to. She was all he had left.

"Okay," she said finally. Her blue eyes rose to meet his and for the first time in a very long time Zuko saw that old spark of determination in them. " _We'll_ do it. Together."

oO0Oo

* * *

It's hard to really say where the inspiration for this one came from. I suppose I just like seeing people come together under unfortunate circumstances. This is a pretty bleak post-war AU, though. Yikes.


	4. Necklace

I finally wrote something short! Go me! (This one is much lighter than yesterday's.)

* * *

 **Day Four**

Necklace

* * *

Aang was always a little uncomfortable whenever he and Katara visited the Fire Nation.

He knew he shouldn't be. It was always good to see Zuko and being in the warm, tropical heat made Katara happy. It took him a while to put his finger on what exactly about being in the Fire Nation filled him with such discomfiture, but around the time of their fourth visit, it finally dawned on him.

"Zuko!" Katara called across the throne room with a friendly wave. Aang walked at her side wearing a large smile as Zuko looked up from some documents he'd been quietly perusing. The two of them had been around so many times by this point that their visits no longer warranted a royal announcement.

Zuko's face split into a smile and he stood from his seat to greet them. "Aang, Katara. I was wondering when you'd be by." He clasped Aang's hand in a brotherly fashion and then turned to Katara and wrapped her up in a fond hug.

There it was. The feeling of frustration that niggled whenever they came here. Aang realized he was frowning and quickly wiped the expression from his face.

Zuko grinned as Katara squeezed him tightly. When they released each other, Zuko gestured for her and Aang to follow him. They followed as he led them from the throne room and out to the gardens where they often went to catch up. As they walked, they made small conversation. Aang asked simple questions about the Fire Nation and Katara talked about some of the things the two of them had been up to since their last visit. Aang was only half focused on the conversation however as he found himself becoming increasingly distracted by the way Katara would put her hand on Zuko's arm while speaking and ruffle his hair while making a comment about how he never changed it. Again, he felt frustration rise within him. Shaking his head to banish the feeling, he turned Zuko's attention back to him by asking about Mai and how she and Zuko were getting along.

Zuko crossed his arms at the question and Aang watched his happy smile fade. "She's…normal."

Aang raised a brow at this. "I never see her when we come to visit. She must be pretty busy."

Zuko sighed and shook his head. "She's not. She just…gets moody whenever you guys come by. I've had about a million talks with her about it but she won't tell me the reason." He shrugged then and seemed to brush the matter away as he asked, "How was Omashu, by the way? I heard you had a disastrous visit with Bumi last month."

Katara snorted. "Oh, yeah. He and Aang went mail sledding and destroyed a whole city block. Don't ask how."

Normal conversation resumed and in a matter of minutes they were outside and settling onto a blanket by Zuko's favorite pond. A servant came by and laid out some platters of small snacks along with a pot of tea. They continued to talk and Aang tried not to be uncomfortable by the way Zuko smiled softly and watched Katara attentively as she talked about old times. "And you remember those pirates you hired to capture us? Well, Aang and I ran into them a few weeks ago and you'll never guess what they're doing now. They've started a law firm to defend victims of fraud!"

She laughed out loud at the memory and Zuko joined her, his face crinkling up in genuine mirth. Aang's eyebrows rose in surprise. They were laughing about the same pirates that Zuko had hired to attack them back when he'd still been hunting them. Aang had always thought those memories were a sore spot for Katara, but she was talking about them as if they were fond recollections of good-natured hijinks.

Zuko reined in his laughter and Aang saw his gaze shift downward just slightly to look at Katara's neck. A spark of curiosity appeared in his golden eyes and he leaned toward Katara to inspect the locale. Delicately, he reached out and touched the necklace she always wore, lifting the pendant in his fingers. "Speaking of those pirates, I see that you've had the band on your necklace repaired." He looked up into Katara's eyes for confirmation.

Katara nodded. "Yeah. It was getting pretty worn so I took it to a silk shop while we were in Omashu and had it restored."

Aang's brow furrowed. She'd done that? He hadn't noticed. More than that, though, why was Katara letting Zuko touch her necklace as if it was nothing? Did she not remember the time he'd stolen it from her? Did that mean nothing to her now?

Come to think of it, when he thought of all the times when he'd felt frustrated or uncomfortable while in the Fire Nation, it always seemed to stem from the way Katara and Zuko interacted. He knew they'd become close after Zuko took her to find her mother's killer and that bond had remained after the end of the war, but weren't they a little _too_ close? Of all their friends, Katara was always the most excited to see Zuko. And whenever they were around each other they were always touching and standing near each other and laughing about something or other. When had that started, exactly?

When had Katara and Zuko become bestest buddies?

Without his consent, his mind pulled up a scene from that terrible play they'd seen back when they'd been hiding out on Ember Island _. "I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."_

Abruptly, Aang stood. Katara and Zuko looked up at him in confusion.

"What's up, Aang?" Katara asked, surprised by the sudden motion.

Aang tightened his hands into fists at his sides and in a controlled voice said, "I'm going to go see if there are any more of those nut cakes in the kitchen."

Not waiting for Katara or Zuko to acknowledge his declaration, he turned on his heel and walked briskly away back toward the palace. He needed some time to himself to sort out his thoughts.

It was going to be a while before they next visited the Fire Nation, that was for sure.

oO0Oo

* * *

Jealous Aang is jealous. I don't blame him, though. Tossing out the whole deplorable comics canon, I imagine it would be pretty tough for Aang to see how well Katara and Zuko get along with each other after the war. I mean, Zuko jumped in front of lightning for Katara. You know that bond is unshatterable.

Also, it's probably become apparent already that I don't jive with Mai. I can handle writing Katara and Aang in a relationship for the drama but I just can't do the same with Mai and Zuko. I hate that relationship. It's so toxic and horrid and it just makes me sad to think of Zuko stuck in it. I always imagine that they'd break up again like a week after the war.

That being said, I'm now going to shamelessly direct your attention to **Boogum's** epic ' **The Undying Fire** ' for a much more awesome way in which Mai's character could be handled and also a surprise relationship that will totally rock your socks with how unexpectedly awesome it is.


	5. Runaway

Hello again and thank you very much to all the gorgeous people who left me nice comments on chapters 1-4. I'm really enjoying reading your thoughts.

Today, I'll be doing something a little different from previous entries. While I usually try to subvert expectations a little bit with how I fulfill the prompts, today's story straight-up takes the prompt and runs with it. (Literally.)

Without further ado, let's jump right into Day 5!

* * *

 **Day Five**

Runaway

(My answer to the comics.)

* * *

Katara tightened the cord on her bag with a swift tug. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure the young man sleeping in the pallet nearby didn't wake at her shuffling about, she slung the pack across her back and stood. She took a moment to say a silent apology to her boyfriend of two years. He was going to be devastated tomorrow morning when he realized what she'd done, but she couldn't put this off any longer. She needed to leave. She couldn't stand to be bound to his way of life anymore. She hadn't travelled the world—become a master waterbender—to be kept like a cute little wife.

Strengthening her resolve, Katara stepped quietly out of the room and closed the door behind her.

o0o

* * *

Being on the road by herself was freeing in a way Katara could hardly have imagined. For the first time, she could go anywhere, do anything. The night air was crisp and chilly on her skin but she felt warm in her heart for the first time in months. The whole open world was spread out before her and with so many possibilities her only obstacle was deciding what to do first.

She didn't think for long. The tropical southern winds beckoned her with summer-sweet kisses and she set a course for the Foggy Swamp.

Months passed. Katara let the wind be her guide as she travelled across the Earth Kingdom from swamp to desert, highland to lowland—usually on foot, but sometimes with the aid of a boat or ostrich-horse. When she tired of the Earth Kingdom, she moved on to the Air Temples where she met with scholars attempting to preserve the Air Nomad culture. Each town, city, and village she visited, she checked in with local officials to make sure they were thriving as best they could in the wake of the war's end. She made the money she needed by using her waterbending to round up bandits and drive off dangerous beasts. Eventually, she got in touch with Sokka and with his permission she began the long work of negotiating trade deals between Earth Kingdom merchants and the Southern Water Tribe.

Soon, a year passed. Katara made a name for herself as something of a nomadic ambassador. Her sphere of influence expanded from the Southern Water Tribe and she began making deals on the behalf of Earth Kingdom leaders as well. With her reputation as the Avatar's waterbending teacher, she was in the unique position of being able to walk freely between the courts of kings and the hovels of peasants and she made good use of her fame.

Throughout her journey, she made sure to send periodic updates to her friends via various message carriers. Her nomadic lifestyle made it difficult for them to reply but they would occasionally leave letters with Bumi or Kuei—people she visited often in her trade. Even Aang left letters for her which she read with fondness. She could tell that she'd hurt him by leaving so suddenly, but he was doing his best to be understanding. It was more than she deserved, honestly.

Her favorite messages, though, were undoubtedly Zuko's. The bond she and Zuko had formed during the war had persisted, even after so long without contact, and when she'd begun writing to him he'd written back eagerly. His missives were short but contained a surprising wit that never failed to lift her spirits.

 _Katara,_

 _I talked to Governor Tseng about Sokka's iron deal. He's willing to supply for an additional seven units of sea-prunes. I'm unsure if he requires the prunes for eating or punishing his enemies. Also, thank you for the complimentary shipment of sea-urchin genitals. I hate them._

Katara sniggered as she closed Zuko's note and slipped it into the drawer with the rest. Her favorite part of visiting the Earth Palace was finding Zuko's notes on her bed. She took a few minutes to scribble a reply at her writing desk before blowing out the lamp and settling down for the night. She had a million and one things to do tomorrow before she set out for the Northern Water Tribe.

Another half a year passed without much to report. Katara continued to travel, helping the locals and making deals. Her life was full in a way that sent her to bed content each night. She still hadn't met with Aang again since she left him in Ba Sing Se, but her travels were far from lonely. She continued to meet with old friends regularly and everywhere she went she found a familiar face. And, of course, there were the letters from Zuko.

 _Katara,_

 _We've been seeing a huge influx of Earth Kingdom merchants to our markets. I suppose you had something to do with that. Our economy has seen a sizable boost because of it but I'm busier than ever. Every day I get to listen to vendors squabble in my throne room. Seriously thinking about hiring someone else to listen to them for me. Strongly considering Toph for the position._

 _Katara,_

 _Have you seen the Ember Island Players' newest production? They're doing another story about us. I was socially obligated to go and watch it as Fire Lord and it was awful. For some reason play-me made Aang promise to kill him if he started to act like Ozai and then the story went through this whole contrived plot about me fighting with the Earth King over whether or not our colonies should be abolished. Aang had this persistent fan club and I had a weird romantic subplot with Suki and you were pretty much just you from the first play but with fewer lines. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever watched. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? The worst part is I've heard they're planning a sequel._

 _Katara,_

 _Sokka and Suki saw the play. Suki won't stop teasing me about needing a bodyguard. Sokka told me to hurry up and get back together with Mai and keep my "emo mitts" off his girlfriend. A bunch of people seem to be taking the play seriously and I've received a number of letters offering support. How do I tell my nation that I'm not an anxious wreck about to crumble at the barest breeze?_

 _Katara,_

 _A new cake shop opened in the Caldera. I haven't been able to go myself but the owner delivered some cakes to the palace and they were delicious. Maybe the next time you come to visit we can go together. It would be more fun to go with company and I know how much you like sweets._

 _Katara,_

 _Fire Nation's hot._

 _Every day I sweat a lot._

 _Get me out of here._

As time continued to pass, Katara found herself returning to Ba Sing Se more and more frequently. It was difficult to focus on her travels when there was a large part of her that just wanted to rush back to the Earth Palace to see if Zuko had responded yet. Without her even realizing it, their letter exchange had become a driving force in Katara's life. She hurried to complete deals so that she could return to Ba Sing Se.

 _Katara,_

 _Your presence here is sorely missed. It's dull as ditchwater around here without you. Is it bad that I'm actually considering letting Azula out so that I'll have someone worthwhile to spar with? I won't do that, of course, but I do really need something to distract me from all this work. The other day I repainted two of the rooms in the East wing just for a change of pace. I envy you being able to go wherever you want whenever you want._

 _Katara,_

 _Sometimes I wonder if I'm really cut out for the job of Fire Lord. My advisors say I just need to find someone to share the load. I know they're urging me to take a bride. I understand where they're coming from, but it's not like you can just drop any frilly noble girl into the position of Fire Lady. I won't resign any girl to the position who without first being sure she can handle it. The Fire Nation doesn't need_ _ **two**_ _bumbling idiots running things._

 _Katara,_

 _Remember four years ago when you and I were captured by Azula and locked up under the Earth Palace together? That was the first time we really talked—like, actually talked. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I keep wondering how things would be different today if Aang and Uncle had showed up just a few minutes later. Back then I really did want to let go of my desire to return home, but I wasn't strong enough. You held out a hand to me that day and if I'd taken it I'd probably be out there with you right now instead of inside this stuffy office trying not to lose my head amidst stacks of musty scrolls. Would trading being Fire Lord be worth doing the kind of work you do? It seems like I'm always juggling my responsibilities with my own desires._

Katara's heart skipped a beat as she traced her fingertips down the page. Zuko's neat scrawl was the same as ever but she could feel a different weight from this letter. She'd always known that Zuko's responsibilities as Fire Lord weighed heavily on him, but lately his letters seemed lonelier to her. She particularly didn't like how he talked about marriage—as if it were merely part of his job. Zuko's letters always filled her with warmth and joy and she hated thinking that he was feeling alone and constrained holed up in his palace day in and day out. Wasn't that precisely why she'd left Aang? She'd felt alone and constrained in a relationship with him, so she'd ended it. She ran away to do something that brought her joy. Zuko couldn't do that. He had the least amount of freedom of any of them.

Setting her brow into a determined frown, Katara made a decision. She was going to the Fire Nation.

o0o

* * *

At eighteen years old, Katara thought she'd finally found her place in the world. She was free, successful, and able to pursue her passion of helping others. But when she arrived in the Fire Nation and Zuko—dazzling, handsome, kind, and surprisingly witty Zuko—enfolded her in his embrace, she wanted to leave it all behind.

"Katara," he breathed her name into her hair. "I missed you."

Maybe it was her nature as a waterbender to drift without warning from one desire to the next. Or perhaps she'd simply had her fill of wandering. Whatever the case, Katara sank into Zuko's arms like a piece of driftwood sinking into the sand after a very long time at sea.

"I'm thinking of staying a while," she told his shoulder.

She felt Zuko smile. "I'd like that."

oO0Oo

* * *

I suppose this story is somewhat of a spiritual successor to yesterday's. We all know that Katara and Zuko groove together so I believe that if Katara were free to pursue her own goals she would naturally gravitate back to him.

I wanted this story to be about choice. It might look like Katara is giving up her freedom again to be with Zuko at the end, but the key difference here is that Katara chose for herself to go to the Fire Nation. Where Aang is shown to be possessive and controlling, Zuko has, throughout the course of the series, left behind his selfishness and learned to respect the wishes of others. He won't try to set the path of Katara's life for her. Katara knows this. She knows Zuko will be her rock without trying to become her anchor. I think this is what Katara needs. She's a free spirit who doesn't want to be locked down. That was the whole idea behind her going to the North to learn waterbending and why she fought Pakku to prove herself. Taking away her agency was the absolute worst thing the comics did to her.

Sorry, I'm ranting. I hope you enjoyed the story! See you again tomorrow for Royal Affairs~!


	6. Royal Affairs

Whew! That last one sure was popular. I'm glad you all liked Zuko's letters so much. My personal favorite was the haiku.

Today's story is short and simple. The shortest yet, in fact. (But that's just because there's a bunch of more involved stuff on the way.)

* * *

 **Day Six**

Royal Affairs

* * *

Katara looked around the room nervously as one royal handmaid synched her sash and another wove pearls into her hair. This would be her first official assembly and she was understandably anxious about appearing alongside all of the other world leaders. It had been four months now since she'd begun training to take over Yue's role as princess-heir to the Northern Water Tribe. As the Avatar's waterbending teacher and with the recommendation of Master Pakku, Chief Arnook, who was getting along in years, had deemed her most fitting to represent the North in an official capacity. It had been a difficult decision for Katara to make the move North away from her brother and father, but by taking the role of princess she would be in a position to positively affect thousands of people. And, she reminded herself, her grandmother had been born and raised among the Northern aristocracy. Northern blood ran in her veins. These were her people, and Katara would always choose to help her people.

Of course, the people of the Northern Water Tribe were much bigger sticklers for propriety than the South, and Katara was being given the full royal treatment for this assembly. She'd been bathed and scrubbed and manicured and bathed again before being dressed in a purple angora gown and then plunged into the finest ermine parka money could buy. Her skin was lotioned and made up with shimmering charcoal paint and peony-colored lip-stain. This would be her debut as princess and she'd been carefully trained to walk, sit, speak, and dine with primness that would make Toph never speak to her again if she could see it. It was also the first assembly to be held in the Northern Water Tribe since the end of the war, making it particularly important that every last tiny detail was presented flawlessly. Katara personally didn't think the other nations would care overly much how she stood or ate—their leaders were there to discuss world affairs, after all—but Arnook was old and traditional and he wanted the Northern water Tribe to be taken seriously.

Katara took a few calming breaths as she was at last led to the great hall to join her fellow leaders. She'd never been the type to get nervous in front of kings—she'd known most of them for ages—but there was something about being all dolled up like a wedding cake that made the nerves flare up.

The doors opened and she took another deep breath before making her entrance. The first face she saw, to her relief, was Sokka's. He was dressed in one of their father's ceremonial parkas and he not-so-subtly shot her a grin and a thumbs up. Katara walked smoothly past him to greet Kuei and Bumi who gave her a respectful bow and approving cackle respectively. She then took her place at the end of the line with Zuko who greeted her with a graceful, stooping bow.

"Congratulations, Katara," he told her softly, his eyes twinkling in the crystal lighting.

Katara answered his bow with a regal curtsy and tried to hide how she grinned up at him as she did so. She could already hear the rumor mill at work. But she didn't care. Not really. It felt good to once again stand beside Zuko and her brother on the world stage. Now she could work alongside them in a capacity that mattered.

The warm reception went a long way to stilling her nerves and when Katara took her seat alongside the other world leaders, she felt her usual confidence settle in the place of her fear. This was nothing she hadn't done before. She belonged here and there was absolutely nothing she needed to prove.

oO0Oo

* * *

Like I said, short (but sweet).

Let's be real for a sec. Chief Arnook is gonna need someone to take over for him. He's out his only daughter and he's got no wife to pop out another one. Hahn is useless and we've never been introduced to any other promising young folks who could conceivably take his place. So, I decided hey, why not Katara? She's got Pakku's stamp of approval as well as the Avatar's, plus she likes helping people, so I could honestly see her taking up the torch. This is, of course, ignoring any tricky politics/succession laws that might bar the way.


	7. Historical AU

Holy moly! The response to these stories both here and on tumblr has blown me away. Y'all're mighty thirsty for Zutara. Well, far be it from me to deny you. I've returned as promised with the next story.

Let me preface today's story by saying that I pretty much never write AUs. Anyone who's followed me for a long time could tell you that I stick to the canon universe like Toph sticks to mud. This is definitely a first for me. That being said, I actually had quite a bit of fun writing this story. I hope all of you are able to derive some amusement from it because it ended up becoming quite long.

Without further ado, please enjoy probably the last historical AU anybody expected to come out of AtLA or me.

* * *

 **Day Seven**

Historical AU

* * *

Katara muttered a slew of unladylike curses under her breath as she picked up her skirts and marched up the short set of stairs to her Papa's office. In her haste, her foot caught a cotton frill and she nearly fell on her face. She managed to disentangle her boot and catch her balance just in time, narrowly saving herself from public embarrassment.

At the top of the stairs, she threw open the door and stormed in with fury on her face. "Papa!" she seethed, capturing the brown-skinned man's attention as she stomped over to his desk. "What on earth are you doing! Letting those—those _crooks_ take over the steelworks?" she demanded hotly. "You know as well as I do that they're going to ruin this town within a year. We'll never be able to afford their prices!"

Sheriff Hakoda listened to his daughter with an unshaken air of calm. He'd known she would react this way when he made the decision to let the Ember Steel Company buy out their steel mill. She was right to be concerned. The Ember Steel Co. were notorious for moving into towns and ruining their economies with their horrid business practices. However, it was also well known that Ember Steel was the finest in the new world and Hakoda had good reason to have faith that they would not go under like so many other towns. He had not made his decision lightly.

"Katara, listen to me," he said evenly. "You know I would never put our people at risk for money. I worked out a set of terms with the branch proprietor before I allowed the company to buy the mill. I believe this move will, in fact, work in our interest. I have confidence that ours terms will be honored."

Katara puffed out her cheeks in anger. "Honored my foot! Since when has Ozai ever cared about anyone's terms? This is a huge mistake and we're all going to suffer for it."

Her piece said, Katara turned on her heel and stormed from the office just as irately as she'd entered. She'd never taken her father to be a fool, but this decision was by far the most foolish one he could have conceived of making.

Well, she wasn't going to stand by him on this. She was going to deal with this herself.

oOo

* * *

The first place Katara visited after leaving her father's office was the mill's main office in town. It seemed likely that whoever had been placed in charge would be in there now setting up his shiny new desk from which he would steal the town's money while his workers squandered their iron. She knew the type. He would be fat and well-dressed with a hideous mustache. He would be the sort of man who looked down on people who made their living doing hard work and thought he could treat her father and the people of this town like stepping stones to a monetary goal. Well, he would learn soon enough that this town wouldn't lie down and let him walk all over them like the other places Ember Steel had run into the ground. Katara was going to make very sure that he understood that well.

Just as she'd done at her father's office, Katara flung the door open with purpose and stormed into the room like a furious thing.

And found it entirely empty.

Confused, she stepped further into the building and looked around. She checked the adjoining rooms and found the same thing. Nothing. The place was entirely barren save for a few office supplies and a scattering of chairs. It seemed the mill's master had yet to move in.

A little put out but no less full of righteous fury, Katara left the office behind and began the long trek to the mill. If the guy wasn't in his town office, he would surely be there.

oOo

* * *

One long, hot trek later, Katara finally arrived at the mill. She wiped sweat off her brow and kicked herself for not taking her horse. Her thick, dark hair stuck to the back of her neck and she paused to sweep it up on top her head and fasten it with a clip. She also took a moment to straighten her oceans of pale blue skirts, making sure she looked presentable. It wouldn't do for the proprietor to see her disheveled appearance and take her for some kind of mad woman.

When she was satisfied that she wouldn't turn any spectators to stone at a glance she marched through the large doors and resumed her hunt for whoever was in charge.

To Katara's surprise, when she opened the doors she was met with a blast of hot air. Even though the town office was empty, the forges were apparently lit and running. She'd thought the place would be cold and empty, but workers in protective coveralls bustled about with lively energy and the place was filled with the sounds of productivity. To her knowledge, the buyout had only just been made official, but already the mill was up and running. That was a little impressive, even Katara had to admit.

Taking a peek around, Katara didn't see anyone who looked like the proprietor, but she did spot a foreman directing some workers who were hammering out some manner of long steel beams and she approached him. "Excuse me," she called to the man. "I'm looking for the master of this establishment. Where might I find him?"

The foreman regarded her with some surprise but answered readily enough. "I imagine he's out in the yard right about now, ma'am. Would you like me to send someone to take you there?"

Katara gave the man a grateful smile and shook her head. "No, thank you. I know the way."

Leaving the foreman behind, Katara set out for the massive, mechanically operated shed door that led out to the wide yard that connected the compound's three buildings.

Just as Katara stepped outside, her ears were assaulted by the deafening _pop-boom_ of a rifle. She flinched and stopped in her tracks. Looking around, she found the source of the noise. Two men were standing in the middle of the yard. One was young and held a smoking rifle and the other was somewhat older and stood by with what looked like a catalogue. Several yards away from them a wooden target had been set up. It had several holes in it.

Katara frowned. Neither man looked to be the person she was looking for, but she didn't see anyone else in the area. Just where was this proprietor? Figuring one of the two men might know, she picked up her skirts again and began walking toward them.

"I'm not sure about the design of the stock," the man holding the rifle was speaking to the man with the catalogue as she approached. "I like the English walnut but the shape is awkward. Tell Piao to trim it down by about a centimeter."

The man with the catalogue nodded and penned a note on the paper before walking way toward one of the other buildings.

The rifle man laid down the gun into a case by his feet and grabbed an ornately carved pistol. He was inspecting it when Katara cleared her throat, getting his attention. "Excuse me. I'm looking for this mill's master. Where might I find him?"

The man looked up from the pistol at her question and Katara read surprise in his expression. He regarded her with curious yellow eyes for a short moment before he holstered the pistol in the waistband of his heavy work trousers and straightened. "That would be me," he said, the infection sounding a bit like a question. "May I ask who's inquiring?"

Katara had to stop herself from taking a step backward, so great was her surprise. This young man was the mill's new proprietor? "Pardon?" she said, unable to mask her disbelief. He certainly didn't look like any proprietor that she'd ever seen before. The guy couldn't be older than eighteen or nineteen and rather than sporting the neatly-combed, oil slicked hair and horrendous mustache of a stereotypical evil businessman, he instead had soft-looking shaggy black hair that hung down to his ears and a handsome, friendly face.

The man shifted his weight onto one foot and regarded her with interest. "You asked for this mill's master," he reminded her. "That's me. Can I help you, Miss…?"

"Katara," she said, wrangling back her scattered composure. Reminding herself of why she came, she set her brow into an angry line and continued, "I'm Sheriff Hakoda's daughter. And yes, you can help me. If you are indeed the new owner of this mill, you can pack your things and leave this town. Right now. Immediately."

The man's eyebrows rose. "May I ask why Katara, daughter of the sheriff, wants me gone so desperately when, to my knowledge, we've only just met?"

Katara's eyes narrowed. She wasn't going to play this game. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you of your own company's reputation. Your overpriced steel is unneeded. I won't allow you to trample this town for a quick buck. Now pack your things and go find somewhere else to ruin."

The man's expression changed at once to a look of understanding. "Ah. I see. I'm sorry you think of me that way. Unfortunately, I can't leave just yet. Your father has just commissioned my company for railroad tracks and I'm afraid I'm under contract until they're finished." He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his other leg. "But," he continued, "I'll be happy to leave after that."

Katara scowled up at him to mask how thrown off she was by his strange reasonableness. "And how long will that be?"

The man made a show of thinking about this for a short moment before levelling his gaze at hers again and saying, "Three years."

Katara felt her blood boil in anger. "Three years!" she exclaimed. "You're insane if you think I'll allow you to do as you please in this town for three whole years."

The man shrugged and held up his hands helplessly. "Whether you allow it or not, my hands are tied until those tracks are finished." He smiled then and held out a hand to her. "In the meantime, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Zuko Redford, branch proprietor of Ember Steel."

Katara thought her blood might evaporate right out of her veins. The audacity of this man! She wouldn't stand for this. There was no way she was going to sit back and allow this loathsome man to have his way for the next three years.

As furious as can be, she spun around and fled back into the mill.

oO0Oo

* * *

To be continued in Day Fifteen.

That's right, folks. I've done what few are gutsy enough to try: an Avatar Western. This is a difficult AU for a number of reasons. First, it's awfully strange for a bunch of people with Asian names to be running around in 19th century America. We're just going to ignore this though because I'm not about to go renaming the characters. Second, I actually don't know very much about this time period. I'm just regurgitating what I've seen in movies because doing a bunch of research for a small-scale story like this would be way too time-consuming. If you notice any inaccuracies, please suspend disbelief. Third, there was an awful lot of racism going on in this time period that we're just going to have to ignore. I really didn't feel like opening that whole can of worms so we're just going to pretend that there's nothing weird about America being full of people of very obviously different races who somehow inexplicably get along.


	8. Wedding Night

Today's story is one of my favorites. I've been really excited to get to it. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

* * *

 **Day Eight**

Wedding Night

* * *

Katara had always been in love with love.

It wasn't until she was wearing of necklace of gold and faced with consummating her marriage to her boyfriend of three years that she discovered that maybe she'd been wrong about what love actually was.

She didn't want this. This wasn't the kind of love she felt for the boy two years her junior who smiled lovingly up at her from their bed. Up until this moment, she'd thought she was ready. She'd thought the feelings would come naturally once she was faced with _doing the deed_.

All she felt in this moment was fear. She feared what this feeling of 'not wanting' meant for her future from here on out. She feared what it meant for Aang. She feared hurting them both.

But she had Aang's necklace around her neck and their coupling had been blessed by the whole world just hours before. It was too late to back out now.

So she swallowed her fear. She crawled onto the bed and into the loving arms of her husband.

oOo

* * *

It wasn't awful. Katara did her best to make the experience a pleasurable one for her partner and in the process she awakened some new feelings in herself as well. But in the end, she'd brought Aang to his finish before they could properly consummate anything and she'd been glad for it. Maybe if they kept at it, they could work their way up to that point—that's what she told herself—but right now she was just relieved it was over.

Aang fell asleep quickly after spending himself but Katara didn't feel an ounce of tiredness herself. Rather than attempting to join him in dreamland, she slipped out of bed and crept to the washroom to wash the evidence of what they'd done from her body. When she was finished, she dressed in a casual tunic and tiptoed silently back across the room to the door. With a glance back at Aang to make sure he was still fast asleep, she slipped outside. It was a lovely night and she needed some fresh air to think.

Her feet carried her through the dark palace of the Earth King where the ceremony had been held and out into one of its many gardens. The moon was bright and high in the sky and Katara used its light to find her way to her favorite fountain.

To her great surprise, a familiar figure darkened the rim of the fountain. His hands were laced in his lap and his face was turned toward the moon. He started and looked over at her when he noticed her approaching.

"Zuko?" she questioned in a soft voice so as not to break the tranquility of the night.

Zuko looked at her with an expression full of confusion. "Katara? What are you doing out here?"

Katara felt relief fill her at Zuko's familiar shape. It helped to chase away some of the discomfort she was still feeling from her realization in the bedroom. "I…um…" She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, suddenly bashful about revealing her feelings to the young Fire Lord. "I needed some space to sort out some feelings."

Upon hearing this, Zuko's good eye widened and he made as if to leave but she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and sat down beside him on the rim of the fountain. "No, stay," she instructed somewhat awkwardly. "I'm glad you're here, actually."

Zuko looked uncomfortable at her request but he did as instructed. "What's wrong?" he questioned hesitantly when she made no further motion to speak. "You should be up there," he gestured with his face to the row of balconies several stories above them, "with him. It's your wedding night."

Katara twined her hands together above her lap. "I know. I just…" She probably shouldn't be speaking about this with him, but Zuko had been her best friend for years. Ever since he'd taken Azula's lightning for her. She shared everything with him and he always did the same with her.

Zuko interrupted her thoughts by tentatively asking, "Did you…you know….?"

Katara blushed and wrung her hands together. Just as hesitantly, she answered, "…Yes. Well, kind of. I mean, we didn't go all the way." Her face was flaming and she knew Zuko could see it even in the dark.

Zuko blinked at her in surprise. He almost looked relieved to hear this. "You didn't?"

She shook her head. "I chickened out. I guess." She looked up at him, her face still hot. "I couldn't do it. It didn't feel right." Shame burned inside her at revealing these secret feelings but she also felt a little lighter after saying it.

"Oh," was all Zuko said to her confession. He looked like he was struggling to find the appropriate way to react but he was coming up empty.

Katara knew she should end this conversation now and return to her room, but she didn't want to. Being out here with Zuko was comforting and familiar. When she thought about going back inside to Aang she felt that same fear and dread from before rise up within her.

She waited another moment as she deliberated revealing her deepest uncertainty to the young man sitting beside her and in the end she decided just to go for it. She trusted him. "Zuko, do you think I made a mistake?" She looked up into his eyes uncertainly. "Marrying Aang, I mean. I thought I was doing the right thing, but tonight the feelings just…" she looked down at her lap, "…weren't there."

She peeked up at Zuko out of the corner of her eye and saw him frown. "Are you saying that you don't love him?" he asked in a low voice, ever conscious of being overheard even at this hour.

Katara played with the fabric of her tunic anxiously. "Of course I do," she defended quickly. "I just…don't know if I…" She released her tunic and took a calming breath. "What if I don't love him in _that_ way?"

There. It was out. This was meant to be the happiest night of her life and here she was confiding to Zuko that it might instead be the biggest mistake of her life. Looking back at him, she said, "Zuko, do you think I rushed into marriage? Or do you think I'm just having some kind of panic attack? Gran-Gran told me I might get cold feet." She laughed a little shakily and added, "I didn't believe her."

Zuko attempted to lift her spirits with a smile. "That could be it. I've heard that can happen."

Katara nodded. "I hope it's just a temporary thing." She pulled her feet up onto the fountain's rim and hugged her knees to her chest. "…But I don't know. I should want to be with Aang in _that way_ , right? But I don't. Tonight felt like trying to sleep with a friend. It was weird and uncomfortable and I was happy when it was over."

She buried her face in her knees and hugged her legs tighter to her chest. The more she thought about it, the idea of being with Aang physically felt the same as when she imagined being with Suki or Haru. "What if I've been wrong all this time?"

The warmth of an arm settled around her shoulders and she felt Zuko lean into her. She wouldn't have blamed him for thinking less of her for this, but she knew he didn't. Zuko had always known the worst parts of her and accepted her regardless. It was why talking to him like this came so easily.

All at once, a thought occurred to her. An idea of how to put her uncertainty to rest. She lifted her head and met Zuko's eyes. He was the only one she could ask to do this for her. At any other time, she'd never ask such a thing of him, but she was in crisis and questioning the biggest decision of her life and if she was going to make it right she had a very limited window to do so.

"Zuko," she said his name hesitantly.

Zuko hummed to show he was listening.

"I have a…request. It's something I hate to ask of you but there's no one else I'd trust to do this."

Zuko didn't even hesitate. "What do you need?"

That almost made her feel worse. Zuko was always ready to help her at the drop of a hat and she was about to take advantage of that. "I know I shouldn't ask this," she prefaced her request. "It's improper and wrong and if anyone found out I asked you to do this I doubt I'd be forgiven, but would you..." Zuko's gaze was steady on hers and looking into his eyes made her almost lose her nerve. But she knew this would be her only chance to ask this and she'd definitely regret it if she didn't so she went ahead. "Would you be willing to kiss me?"

She could feel Zuko's surprise in the contracting of the muscles in his arm. He didn't pull away though, which she was glad for. Rather than immediately refuse or ask her what in the world she was thinking asking him such a thing, he instead took a deep breath and said simply, "Are you sure?"

Katara's cheeks reddened again but she nodded. Looking determinedly into his eyes, she said, "If you kiss me and it feels the same as when he does it, then I'll have my answer."

Zuko's lips thinned. He looked conflicted, as he ought to. She almost took back her request, but then she saw his resolve steel. He glanced around cautiously to make perfectly certain they weren't being watched and then his eyes found hers again and he nodded. "Okay."

Relief and nervousness washed over Katara in equal measures and she gave him a grateful smile. In her head, she made a promise to do something extra nice for him later to pay him back for this. Readying herself, she tucked her hair behind her ears and closed her eyes.

It took a moment, but finally Zuko's arm slid from her shoulders. She felt his hand cup her cheek and she stayed as still as she could while she waited for what was to come. Zuko would only be the third boy ever that she'd kissed—an awfully pitiful number for a girl who'd just been married—and she tried very hard to forget that she was doing it on her wedding night; the night she was supposed to be spending in bliss with her husband upstairs. Spirits, what a fantastic wreck she'd become, smooching the Fire Lord when she was married to the Avatar.

Zuko's fingers slid up into her hair and she felt his warm breath as he leaned in close. This was it. She still had time to pull away—to forget all this and run back up to her room. Zuko would never speak of the incident and she could live her life pretending that she'd never had second thoughts about her feelings for Aang.

But she didn't. Her butt stayed firmly put on the rim of the fountain as Zuko closed the remaining space between them and set his mouth on hers.

At once, Katara felt her nerves ease. Zuko's kiss was gentle and overflowing with consideration. He sighed into the contact and she responded in kind, bringing her arms up around his neck to pull him close, just as she would with Aang.

It felt good. By all expectations, kissing Zuko should feel awkward and wrong, but the reality was completely opposite. The tender way Zuko's lips pressed into hers filled her with a sense of trust and safety. She could feel his desire to make her happy. He was solid and warm in a way that felt steadfast and dependable. He didn't feel like he would slip from her grasp like the wind at a moment's notice.

That had always been Zuko, she realized in that instant. Whether as her enemy or her companion, he'd always been steadfast. He'd always approached every task with a large amount of conviction and he saw it through. He was unwavering to a fault and because of that he was reliable. In that regard, he was Aang's opposite. Where Aang was flighty and Katara always found herself running to keep up, Zuko was deliberate and purposeful and had a strong sense of commitment. It was these traits that made Zuko's kiss feel sincere on a level that she was realizing now Aang's often didn't. Aang only ever kissed her because that's what he wanted in the moment. Zuko was kissing her to satisfy _her_. That, she now understood, was always going to be something her relationship with Aang lacked.

Zuko abruptly pulled back when her tears dampened his cheeks. "Katara?" he questioned, his voice full of concern.

Katara shook her head and removed a hand from around his neck to wipe her face. "I'm sorry, Zuko," she apologized quickly. "It's not you. I'm just a wreck right now. I shouldn't have asked you to do that—it was stupid of me and now—"

She was silenced when Zuko's head dipped down and he kissed her again. This time he held her face in both hands and slanted his mouth against hers. This second kiss was unrestrained and contained a slew of new emotions. She felt wanting and sadness, hope and fear. She felt a multitude of feelings that she'd never known he harbored. Most of all, she felt his hurt and his desire. She got the sense that he'd wanted to kiss her like this for a long time. Had he had all these feelings inside him all this time? He'd never let a hint of them out.

Katara was helpless as Zuko's feelings poured into her. It was overwhelming, but at the same time she felt a strong urge to meet them. Her response was instinctual. She grabbed his hair and forced him to open his mouth with her tongue. He obliged her readily and when their tongues connected she felt heat pool within her. To hell with reservations, she thought. To hell with right and wrong. The feelings that had been absent just an hour ago with Aang were here in full force with Zuko. Perhaps it was because her hormones were still buzzing inside her from her mini-romp with Aang, but she wanted to push Zuko onto his back and feel for herself how much he desired her.

She managed to rein in her impulse and with a great deal of willpower separated herself from him. Zuko's face was flushed and his eyes were dark when she looked at him again but he shook his head and seemed somewhat successful in pulling his good sense back from the aether where it had scattered. "I'm sorr—" he started to apologize but she shushed him with a finger to his mouth.

"Don't apologize," she ordered firmly. Her face was still damp but she did her best to sound like she was of perfectly sound mind as she said, "I'm an idiot who just made a terrible mistake and I don't need you apologizing to me on top of it."

Zuko tilted his head in confusion and she elaborated before he could go jumping to the wrong conclusion. "I need to talk with Aang. Spirits, there's probably no way to rectify this without bringing an enormous amount of shame to both of us—mainly me—but if I act quickly we can probably find a way to save _some_ face." She buried her face in her hands as the weight of what she was going to have to do came crashing down on her. She was going to have to break to Aang that she thought their marriage was a mistake. There wasn't a single part of her that wanted to do that to him but at the same time she couldn't bear to live a lie.

She was pulled from her crisis when Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wait," he requested in a slightly stronger voice. "Don't go making any big decisions hastily. Take some time to think it over. Like you said, this could just be a temporary thing."

Katara found herself smiling at Zuko's earnest request. The advice was awfully rich coming from him, the king of not thinking things through. Although she supposed he had gotten better about that over the years. "Zuko," she said his name with a no-nonsense edge. "I want to sleep with you. That's not a very good prospect for my marriage to Aang."

Zuko's cheeks immediately flared and he directed his eyes bashfully away from hers to look at his lap.

"Listen," she addressed him more softly. "I don't want you to feel responsible for this. I was the one who got myself into this and if I decide to have my marriage annulled, it has nothing to do with you. I won't let you take any heat for this."

Zuko's head rose to look at her again and she watched him frown. She knew he wanted to protest, but they both knew he couldn't. He was the Fire Lord and if word got out that he had any involvement, no matter how miniscule, in her decision to leave Aang, it would cause an international mess that could sour the Fire Nation's reputation for generations. Hesitantly, he nodded, then said, "Fine. But Katara, if you need a place to stay for a while after…after you sort things out with Aang, you know you're always welcome in the Fire Nation."

Katara smiled and leaned forward to wrap Zuko in a hug. This would be a decision she felt the ramifications of for years to come, she knew, but knowing Zuko would support her through all of it helped to still her fear. "Thank you," she said honestly. "I'll be happy to take you up on that."

oO0Oo

* * *

What's that? Actual romantic contact? It had to happen sometime.

Wowzer, that ended up much longer than it was supposed to be. To be honest, I almost didn't write anything for this prompt. I couldn't think of anything worth writing so I was just going to leave a single crack sentence and move on, but at the very last moment I was struck with inspiration. I know other people have done similar stories to this but those stories tend to be really depressing and I wanted to give the world a happier, more optimistic version. I don't like the idea of Zuko and Katara living out miserable lives with people they don't love, endlessly pining for one another. I believe in their ability as reasonable people to come out with reasonable solutions to their problems. No one's resigning themselves to misery in my stories, folks. This is a no-resignation zone.


	9. Fake Dating

Hot damn! That last story went over really well with you guys. Mental note made to include more make-outs.

* * *

 **Day Nine**

Fake Dating

* * *

"Zuko! Stop slumping and stand up straight. We're never going to get inside if we can't make this convincing."

Zuko glared at Sokka under heavily mascaraed lashes. His face itched from the layers of powder and paint that had been applied to disguise his masculine features and his waist ached from being tightly cinched to give the illusion of feminine curves. Not to mention how the heavy wig of black hair just wouldn't sit quite right on his head. All in all, he didn't think he'd ever felt so uncomfortable and he made sure to relay that to the younger man walking beside him in the fierceness of his glare.

"And stop glaring," Sokka tacked on, elbowing him in the side. "Ladies don't glare."

On the contrary, Zuko didn't think he'd ever met a girl who hadn't perfected the art of glaring. Leaving that aside, he addressed Sokka in a rough whisper. "If you have so many opinions, why don't _you_ wear the dress? We both know you'd be better at acting the part."

"Because," Sokka shot back, "you're the pretty boy. I'm too ruggedly handsome to dress in drag." He made a show of scratching the meager beginnings of a beard that patched his chin proudly. He'd begun growing it just two weeks back and it still had a long way to go in Zuko's opinion.

Zuko sighed. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner we get inside, the sooner I can take this stupid disguise off. I'll never live it down if someone recognizes me while dressed like this. Imagine what the papers will say."

Sokka raised a hand in front of himself and spread his fingers. "Fire Lord Embraces His Feminine Side. What Does This Mean for the Royal Lineage?"

Zuko scowled and elbowed Sokka harshly.

"Ouch!" Sokka yelped and rubbed his side. "Jeez, you don't have to get that upset about it. Besides, I'm a pretty good catch."

Zuko said nothing to that. They were coming up on their target now—a premier and very posh social club called Huinong in the heart of Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring. Inside, a Fire Nation governor wanted for international crimes was about to make a deal with the head of a notorious Earth Kingdom crime syndicate that had cropped up just after the end of the war. After weeks of chasing the man, Zuko, with Katara's help, had traced the man to this location. Unfortunately, the club had a very strict rule that barred entry to single men. Any man without a VIP pass had to be accompanied by a woman. Huinong was, after all, _that_ kind of place.

And that was precisely the reason Sokka's help had been enlisted. Aang had been uncomfortable about Katara entering such an establishment and Zuko agreed with him. Aang was too recognizable to go himself, so Sokka had been brought in to be Zuko's backup. They hadn't known about the single man rule until they tried to enter earlier that night and had been turned away. So it was that their current plan had been hastily concocted. One trip to the market and a shoddy makeup job by Sokka later, they once again found themselves standing before the entrance to the club.

The bouncer at the door, a large, burly man dressed in emerald silk eyed them impassively as they approached. "Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe," he said in a business tone, clearly remembering him from an hour earlier. His brown eyes shifted over to Zuko next and despite his trained stoicism one of his eyebrows rose. "And this is…?"

Zuko tried not to grunt as one of Sokka's arms came around him and pulled him against his side. "This is my girlfriend. Zu—" Zuko elbowed him again sharply and Sokka quickly improvised. "—la."

"Zula?" the bouncer repeated. He leaned in close and inspected Zuko's face with interest. Zuko turned his cheek in an effort to hide his makeup-disguised scar and batted his lashes. "Hi," he greeted the man in a pitched-up voice.

The bouncer reached out and touched Zuko's chin, delicately turning his face toward him. Zuko gulped nervously and tried not to jump away from the man. Spirits, there was no way this guy wasn't going to recognize him this close. The man turned his chin this way and that, getting a good, solid look at him, then, to Zuko's great surprised he released him and turning back to Sokka said, "To think a shrimpy guy like you could bag such a babe. There's just no justice in this world." He shook his head in disbelief and waved for the two of them to pass.

Zuko felt Sokka's arm around him stiffen in consternation. He opened his mouth to protest but Zuko stopped him by placing a hand on his cheek and turning his face toward him. He gave Sokka a warning glare and in the same high-pitched voice from before said, "Let's go, _honey_. The good man is letting us in."

Sokka looked like he desperately wanted to defend himself but at Zuko's glare he managed to rein in the urge. He still shot the bouncer an insulted look as they passed but to Zuko's relief he said nothing.

The moment they were inside, Zuko removed Sokka's arm from around him. "I can't believe that worked," he said, genuinely amazed.

" _I_ can't believe that guy thought you were too good for me!" Sokka exclaimed, throwing up his arms indignantly.

Zuko ignored him. Now that they were inside, he needed to find a restroom to remove his disguise. There was no way he was apprehending their target dressed like a woman. The man was a member of his own nation's aristocracy, after all.

Locating the sign for the toilets across the room, Zuko began pushing through the crowd as politely as he could. He'd nearly made it when the weight of a hand appeared on his shoulder, halting him.

"So," a familiar, amused voice said behind him. "Zula, huh?"

Good eye widening, Zuko turned around. Blue eyes looked mirthfully at him from a sun-kissed face.

"Katara?" he uttered her name, surprised and confused in equal measures. She wasn't supposed to be here. This wasn't the plan. His eyes narrowed and in a low voice he hissed, "What are you doing here? This place is way too dangerous for you to be here alone!"

Katara rolled her eyes. "I'm not alone. You and Sokka are here," she pointed out. "Besides, you should've known that I wasn't going to just sit around and wait. I'm not a delicate flower." Her mouth split into a grin then and she added, "Anyway, it was totally worth the danger to see _this_." She gestured at his outfit and makeup.

Zuko's cheeks turned scarlet in embarrassment. To think that Katara of all people would see him wearing fake boobs. It was almost more humiliating than being recognized by the governor.

Katara took pity on him by looping her arm through his and leading him to the toilet again. "Come on. I'll help you get all that makeup washed off."

Zuko allowed her to guide him along. As embarrassed as he was, he was grateful for her offer of assistance. "…Thanks."

Katara nodded. Looking up at him again, she appeared to study him for a moment and then asked, "Who did your makeup anyway?"

Zuko hesitated briefly before saying, "Sokka."

Katara's eyebrows rose in surprise and then fell back down over her eyes. "Huh," she said without inflection. Then, after a beat, she added, "Looks good."

oO0Oo

* * *

Show of hands: who realized that this is a prequel to Day 1? It's a little subtle. (Or maybe it's not and everyone guessed it right away.) I thought it would be fun to offer some context for the incident that was alluded to in "Vigilantes" and Boogum requested a story that included crossdressing so I figured this would be a prime opportunity to deliver. It's not a long one but it's silly and I got to include my boy Sokka so I'm happy with it.


	10. Heat of the Moment

Aaay! Back atcha with another story-let.

* * *

 **Day Ten**

Heat of the Moment

* * *

Katara squealed as a sandball went sailing past her, narrowly missing colliding with her midsection in an explosion of grainy particles. Not that it would've mattered anyway. She, along with the other members of Team Avatar, was already caked in the stuff. Their beach break had quickly devolved into a sandball fight and each and every member was in it to win it. Sand flew left, right, forward, and backward as the group mercilessly pelted each other with hastily formed globs of rock and shell.

Katara laughed and ran at top speed across the beach as sandballs continued to be chucked at her with dangerous accuracy by Suki who had a nice trail of sand down the front of her swimsuit courtesy of one of Katara's own sandballs.

Several meters away, she saw Zuko watching Aang engage in a sandbending war with Toph and made a beeline for him. She took advantage of his distraction to grab hold of his arm and swing him in front of her just as a sandball came flying right at her. Zuko had no time to react and was walloped straight in the chest.

Katara and Suki both burst into laughter as Zuko made a disgruntled noise at being used as a meat shield and wiped off his chest to the best of his ability. It wasn't very effective. He turned around to glare at her and Katara responded by dumping sand over his head and beating a hasty retreat across the beach.

She glanced back over her shoulder to watch him splutter and shake himself off with a self-satisfied grin. To think that mighty and powerful Zuko would be such an easy target. Now that they were friends, she often had to remind herself that he was the same belligerent jerk who had once chased them clear across the globe. He wasn't anywhere near as scary as she'd always thought him to be.

And speaking of differing later impressions, Katara would never admit this to any of her friends, but Zuko was also much handsomer than she'd initially given him credit for. He'd never been a bad-looking guy, but that horrible maroon armor and dumb ponytail had done nothing for him. This new, softer Zuko, however, was awfully easy on the eyes and Katara found herself gravitating toward him more than she probably should. She blamed this on being a healthy teenaged girl with normally functioning biology. It wasn't like she was romantically attracted to him, she assured herself. No, certainly not. He was _Zuko_ , after all.

Although, day by day, it was steadily becoming harder to convince herself of this. Particularly because he had such a gosh darn good personality on top of it all—another unexpected facet of his character. He was honest and easy to talk to and could actually be pretty funny even though he never tried to be. All these things combined drew her to him like a moth to a flame, and even though she tried not to, she found herself occasionally stacking him up against the other males in her life for critical comparison. This too, she blamed on biology.

Katara's attention was pulled away from Zuko when she heard Suki's voice call out to her. "Katara! Watch out!"

It took Katara a moment to figure out what Suki was referring to and by the time she did it was too late to avoid it. Toph had put a pause on her battle with Aang to send a wave of sand rolling across the beach directly toward her and Katara could only "Eep!" in surprise as the wave knocked her onto her butt and then proceeded to swirl around her, encasing her up to her neck. "Hey! No fair!" she called only half-seriously to the grinning earthbender.

"All's fair in sand and war, Sugar Queen!" Toph shouted back smugly.

Knowing that was an argument she would never win, Katara simply focused on freeing herself from her sand prison. By the time she was finally able to pull herself from the wet mound, Suki and Zuko had wandered over and were watching her with amused expressions. "You reap what you sow," Suki said with a snigger as Katara emerged from her entrapment completely coated in yellow sand.

Katara tried in vain to brush the sand from her skin, only succeeding in dislodging the first layer. "I think it's time for a swim," she said, admitting defeat.

Suki and Zuko vocalized their agreement and the three of them began jogging for the water.

Katara couldn't have been more surprised when right as they reached the water's edge a pair of arms hoisted her up and suddenly she was speeding into the water. She barely had time to register that Zuko was the one who grabbed her when she was being tossed bodily into the surf. She yelped in surprise and indignation as her body hit the water and when she resurfaced she found Suki doubled over laughing and Zuko wearing a smug look that rivaled Toph's.

When Suki recovered from her laughing fit, she turned back to the beach to call to the rest of their friends to join them in the ocean. Katara wasn't paying attention to her, though. Using her waterbending, she grabbed a wave and flung it over Zuko, soaking him like a drowned pygmy puma. Before he could recover, she retreated out into deeper water where she would have an edge if he decided to retaliate.

Apparently Zuko wasn't scared of a waterbender in the ocean—that, or he had a stubborn streak as wide as hers—because he followed her without a second thought.

What followed was an all-out water war with her and Zuko at the center. Zuko, as it turned out, was fantastic at holding his breath and he used this skill frequently to torment her from under water. While Aang or Sokka attempted to get splashes in up top, Zuko would launch his assault from below, grabbing her legs and pulling her under.

After several repetitions of this, the next time Zuko went under, Katara dove beneath the waves as well to meet him on his own ground. Rather than looking surprised at finding her there, Zuko locked eyes with her and spread his arms in a 'come at me, bro' sort of gesture. Katara wasn't about to ignore that. She swam straight at him and the two became locked in an underwater wrestling match, both attempting to make the other surface first.

Katara could've easily used waterbending to make an oxygen bubble around her head, but she was determined to beat Zuko on his level. He would regret challenging her to a duel in the water. She would make sure of it.

Zuko, however, was persistent and he very clearly had no intention of admitting defeat. His hands roamed over her sides, attempting to tickle her into surrendering, a tactic which was very cheap in Katara's opinion as she was incredibly ticklish. She squirmed in his grasp, trying in vain to bat his hands away. At this rate, she might actually lose.

 _That_ was something she would never allow. She needed to counter; do something back that would ensure her victory. She was running out of air quickly and if she gave in none of her friends would ever let her live it down. Waterbenders didn't lose to firebenders in the ocean.

She wasn't really sure what gave her the idea. Maybe it was the determined look on Zuko's face or the feel of his hands on her bare skin. Perhaps it was just the high of engaging in a competitive battle. Katara couldn't say exactly what it was, but _something_ drove her to grab Zuko's face in both her hands and pull him into a fiery kiss.

The plan worked better than Katara could've imagined. Shocked, Zuko exhaled through his nose, clouding both their vision with bubbles, and was forced to break away to kick desperately to the surface for air.

Katara followed a moment after, surfacing just a few feet away from him. Zuko found her with wide eyes and seeing his absolute shock at what she'd done caused her own actions to properly register. Blood rushed to her face and she quickly attempted to save face by directing his attention to his loss. "T—that'll teach you to mess with a waterbender on her home turf!" She let out a somewhat awkward-sounding triumphant laugh. Before Zuko could ask about the incident, she added, "Well, I'm beat. I think I'll go inside early and, uh, get started on dinner. Later!"

Not wasting a single second, she used her bending to propel herself quickly back to shore. Without looking back, she bent herself dry and began jogging back to the house. Her cheeks were still burning and she had to stop herself from touching them to feel how obvious her blush was. She was _never_ going to mention this to anyone. Not ever.

If Zuko knew what was good for him, he wouldn't either.

oO0Oo

* * *

We're officially a third of the way through! Yay for milestones. From here, the stories will largely be much sillier than the ones we've seen so far. More like today's and yesterday's. Anyone who's followed me for a long time knows that I'm partial to humor. That's not to say that there won't be few more serious stories tossed in, of course.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go figure out what in the HFIL to write for tomorrow's prompt.


	11. Mythology

Got another fun one for you today. And surprise of surprises! It's set in Season One. I hardly ever do that. Rest assured that it's one you'll enjoy. ;)

* * *

 **Day Eleven**

Mythology

* * *

Of all the odd places Team Avatar had visited during the course of their journey to the Northern Water Tribe, the strangest by far was without a doubt the village of Ei Hazu.

Ei Hazu was a village of only a hundred or so people and it was so tiny and out of the way that it lacked even a market. However, this didn't stop it from being a very bizarre place. At the center of the village was a house more ornate than any of the others and Katara, Aang, and Sokka could only watch, bemused, as men, women, and children lined up at its door, each holding a plate that contained a single, unpeeled lychee.

"Um, what exactly is going on?" Sokka vocalized the question on all their minds.

An old man standing nearby took it upon himself to answer. "You lot clearly ain't from around here if you don't know about the daily offering to the great spirit Aa Ron."

Aang scratched his head and raised an eyebrow at the man. "Um, the great spirit _who?"_

"Aa Ron," the man repeated, giving Aang a critical once-over. "There's an old legend 'round these parts what says if you offer a lychee to the great spirit he may choose to impart a piece of his great wisdom on t'you. Aa Ron knows all, y'see. He even predicted this war."

"Wait, so he can see the future?" Katara asked, interested.

"That's right, little lady." He turned away from them and pointed to a girl close to Katara's age standing in the line. "That young lady over there's going to ask the spirit about the man she'll one day marry. All the young men and women in the village get matched by Aa Ron. He knows which couplings lead to the greatest happiness."

Immediately, both Katara and Aang perked up excitedly. Katara was always eager to hear her love fortune. Turning to Aang, she said, "Well, nothing ventured, right?"

Aang nodded. "That's right. And besides, it's my duty as the Avatar to meet this Aa Ron if he's a spirit."

Not wasting any time, the excited duo set off to get ahold of some lychees. Behind them, Sokka rolled his eyes and followed. "Here we go again."

oOo

* * *

Katara rocked from her heels to her toes and back impatiently as she waited for her turn to present her offering to the spirit. She still remembered Aunt Wu's fortune. Supposedly the man she would marry would be a powerful bender. She wondered if this Aa Ron's fortune would be the same. He was a spirit, so whatever he said had to be the truth, right?

Finally, the person who'd gone in before Katara reemerged from the house and Katara was ushered inside. Trying to rein in her excitement, Katara held her plate in a firm grip and walked through the open door.

"Welcome, child," an elderly woman in brown robes bade as she entered. Katara looked around the room, trying to find the spirit, but all she saw besides the obviously human woman was a large hole in the floor of the house. The hole was perfectly round and so deep that Katara couldn't see to the bottom. The old woman drew her attention again by saying, "What would you like to ask the great spirit?"

A little confused, Katara looked from the hole to the woman. She wore a friendly expression and though her face was weathered Katara could tell that she had once been quite beautiful. "Um," she started, feeling suddenly unsure, "I guess I'd like to know about the man I'll marry in the future. If the great spirit doesn't mind telling me."

The old woman smiled broadly, showing a row of somewhat off-white teeth. "Of course, my dear. Offer up your gift and I shall reveal the words of his excellency, Aa Ron."

Seeing Katara's continued confusion, the woman nodded to the hole in the floor. Katara's eyebrows shot up. "Oh! Right. Okay." Heeding the crone's gesture, she walked to the edge of the hole and upended her plate, allowing the lychee to fall into the dark abyss.

A moment passed in which Katara watched the piece of fruit disappear from sight, then the old woman closed her eyes and appeared to listen for a handful of seconds. Katara waited, and finally the woman's eyes opened and she said, "The spirit has spoken."

Katara's face split into a giddy grin and she leaned toward the woman expectantly. "What did he say?"

The crone smiled at her enthusiasm. "The one destined for you is close. He is an honest, compassionate, and hardworking young man, and Aa Ron sees a lifetime of love and happiness in your future together. You're very lucky. It isn't often that the great Aa Ron sees a union so auspicious."

Katara squealed in delight. She clasped her hands together by her chin and did a little dance. Her excitement ripe to burst right out of her, she asked, "How do I find him?"

The crone didn't seem bothered in the slightest by her energetic enthusiasm. "He is much closer than you think." She reached forward and took one of Katara's arms, grasping her wrist in bony fingers. "The next man to touch you will be him."

Katara's grin faded and was replaced by a look of confusion. "The next man to touch me?" she repeated. That couldn't be right. The only two boys liable to touch her anytime soon were her brother and…

At once, her eyes widened. _Aang_. Aunt Wu's fortune telling had also pointed to Aang. Could it be that the two of them actually were destined to be together?

She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. She _did_ care greatly for Aang, but love? She'd need some time to think about it.

Despite her uneasiness about Aa Ron's prediction, she plastered a polite smile on her face and thanked the woman for her time. She made to go on her way but she was stopped when the old woman laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Beware, child. There are forces in this world—powerful ones—who will attempt to lead you to a different destiny. You must trust the guidance of Aa Ron."

Katara blinked in confusion at the old woman's strange shift in demeanor. Hesitantly she nodded. "Um, sure."

The woman released her and Katara was allowed to go on her way.

When she stepped out of the hut, Aang was waiting. He was the next in line after her. "How'd it go?" he asked eagerly. "Did you learn anything good?"

Katara nodded slowly. "Yeah. Um, I think so?"

Aang's grin widened. "Great!" He released the plate with one hand to give her a wave. "Well then, I guess it's my turn. Wish me luck!" With that, he disappeared through the door.

Katara watched the doorway for a moment before shaking her head and turning around. She should find Sokka before he got himself into trouble.

She'd barely made it twenty feet from the house when a cry of alarm rippled through the line of people. Becoming instantly alert, Katara placed her hand over her the cork of her water skin and looked around for the source of the disturbance.

She found it—or rather, _him_ —quickly enough. She wasn't even surprised when she saw the dark ponytail and angry scowl of a far too familiar figure riding a Komodo Rhino through the center of the village as if he owned the place. Flanking him were two more rhinos carrying two Fire Nation soldiers each.

"Zuko!" she cried at the sight of him. It just figured that he'd track them here. He always showed up right when they thought they could relax for a minute.

Zuko caught sight of her and his scowl deepened. "Just as I thought," he announced, looking her right in the eye. "I knew the Avatar would travel through here." As Katara watched, he hopped down from his rhino and strode toward her, his expression fierce. "Why don't you tell me where he is, little girl?"

Katara scowled right back and uncorked her water skin with a deft flick of her thumb. "Why don't you make me?" she challenged.

Zuko was, apparently, perfectly happy to take her up on that challenge because he clenched his fists at his sides and twin daggers of fire appeared from them. Without taking his eyes off her, he addressed his men. "Split up and find the other water brat. The Avatar won't be far."

Katara's eyebrows pushed together in anger. "Don't you touch him!" Before the soldiers could move, she pulled a long stream of water from her flask and formed it into a whip which she lashed at the komodo rhinos one by one, causing them to rise up onto their hind legs in fright and throw off their riders.

"Why you—peasant!" Zuko called to her, breaking into a run straight at her.

Katara hurriedly pulled her water back and, with a spin, sent it flying at Zuko. Zuko dodged expertly out of the way and shot a blast of fire at her whip, causing a large amount of it to evaporate into steam. Katara cursed at the loss of precious water and turned her head this way and that, hoping to find a well or other source of water she could pull from. All she saw were the white faces of the villagers watching their fight with fearful eyes.

Zuko took advantage of her lapse in concentration and dodged past her defenses to grab her wrist in a vice grip. "Tell me where the Avatar is!" he demanded again. His face was near enough that she could make out the individual flecks of gold in his eyes.

Katara was about to tell him to take a hike when another voice rose over the scene. "Right here!"

Before either of them could react, a strong gust of wind blew over her head, striking Zuko and forcing him to release her. Not a moment later, a yellow-garbed figure landed beside her, retracting the wings of his glider and leveling it like a staff at the downed firebender.

"Avatar!" Zuko snarled at him, hastily regaining his footing and dropping into a bending stance. Unfortunately for him, he never got an opportunity to attack because right as he pivoted into the beginnings of a punch he was knocked off his feet once again by the enormous and fluffy figure of Appa who dropped down from the sky nearly on top of him. Sokka motioned to Aang and Katara from his saddle. "Get on! If we leave, they'll follow us!"

Not wasting any time, Aang grabbed Katara by her wrist and used his airbending to propel the both of them up onto Appa's saddle. Sokka snapped the reins once and yelled, "Yip yip!" and then they were flying, leaving Zuko and his soldiers to stare after them, their attempt to capture the Avatar foiled once again.

Once they were sure the village would be alright and that they had nothing more to fear from Zuko, the three companions let out a breath of relief and relaxed against the sides of Appa's saddle.

"Another close one," Aang said what they were all thinking. "Jeez, I was only gone for like three minutes. How in the world does he find us so fast?"

Sokka made a whirling motion with one hand. "Maybe he asked _Aa Ron_."

The remark was meant to be sarcastic, but it brought Katara's mind back to her talk with the old woman in the house. Giving Aang a curious look, she asked, "Speaking of Aa Ron, what did he say to you?"

Aang's shoulder slumped in a decidedly disappointed fashion. "I never got to hear. Zuko showed up right as the old lady was going to tell me."

Katara laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "That's too bad. I'm sorry, Aang."

Aang just shrugged. "Maybe it's for the best. After all, there's a chance I might've been really disappointed by his prediction, right?" His expression brightened then and he turned Katara's question back at her. "What did he say to you?"

At once, Katara stiffened. The memory of the old woman's words ran through her head. "Um…" she started. "He said that the man I'd marry would be honest and hardworking and that we'd be very happy together." She carefully left out the part about how she'd know who he was. After all, she wasn't sure she was quite ready yet to reveal to Aang that he was the one who…

Wait.

Her eyes shot wide open and she grasped her right wrist in her left hand. The first man to touch her…

It hadn't been Aang.

"Oh, no," she uttered, deadly serious.

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh no, what? That sounds like a pretty good fortune."

Katara didn't acknowledge him. Her mind was too busy trying to process what she'd just realized. The woman had definitely said that the man she was destined to marry would be the first one to touch her upon leaving the house. But there was no possible way that could be right because the first person to touch her had been…

No. She refused to even think it. Uh uh. That was **not** going to happen.

"Katara?"

Katara responded to her comrades' concern by shaking her head violently and in a voice that was maybe a little too loud declared, "I just remembered that totally forgot to pick up supplies in that village. How silly of me!" She punctuated this statement with a laugh that sounded forced even to her.

Aang and Sokka gave her dubious looks but didn't comment on her odd behavior. The conversation moved on, much to her relief, but she didn't participate in it. She was too busy having a silent crisis in her head.

Honest and hardworking? Compassionate? A lifetime of happiness and love?

No way. That prediction couldn't be referring to _him_. Aa Ron must have made a mistake. Perhaps he hadn't accounted for Zuko finding them so quickly. That had to be it. Even spirits weren't omnipotent, right?

Feeling a little better after rationalizing it, Katara put the matter aside, determined never to revisit it.

Her and Zuko? What a laugh. Not in a million gajillion years.

oO0Oo

* * *

Oh, Katara. How little you know. We were all so innocent in season one.

This was another prompt I almost didn't write for. I couldn't for the life of me think of a fitting story for it. The story I ended up writing still doesn't really fit "Mythology" but I'm honestly just happy to have written something. I'd have been really disappointed if I ended up missing a day.

Tomorrow is the continuation of 'Vigilantes'. I hope you're all pumped for it!


	12. Masked Ball

You've all been waiting patiently for this. I'm gonna warn you right off the bat that it's not my best work. I maybe kinda had to rush it a bit to get it out on time. Just pretend that it's super good and was totally worth the wait.

* * *

 **Day Twelve**

Masked Ball

(The Continuation of Day One: Vigilantes)

* * *

Katara mentally cursed as she entered the grand ballroom of the Earth Palace. Everywhere she looked, colorfully dressed, wealthy partygoers stood in groups chatting and sipping fine spirits. All wore exquisite dresses and robes and all, to her great frustration, had faces hidden behind ornate animal masks. Sighing at the work ahead of her, Katara stepped into the room and joined the flock of bedazzled nobles.

It was just her luck, she lamented, that the Earth King's usual gala had been replaced this time around by a masked ball. The plan had been for her to meet up with Zuko and for the two of them to hunt down the Earth Kingdom merchant selling her tribe's ivory together, but when she found the mask lying on her bed and realized what sort of party this was going to be, it had become clear to her in an instant that her job had just become a whole lot harder. Now, not only did she have to somehow identify the man she and Zuko were looking for, she first had to find _Zuko_.

And, to make matters worse, she'd been warned by Sokka just before leaving the South Pole after returning the "borrowed" jewelry to her father's treasury that Aang had figured out what she'd done. He knew that he'd been tricked and he wasn't happy about it. Katara was confident that he'd already figured out where she was. All he'd needed to do was ask the Earth King about the guest list for the ball and he'd know right where to find her. That added yet another element of uncertainty to tonight. She had to somehow find Zuko and find their target all while dodging a furious Aang.

It was going to be a long night.

Well, she reasoned, first things first, she needed to get started on locating her partner in crime.

She pushed through the crowd, carefully assessing the heights and body types of the people she passed. It was all she really had to go on given she had no idea what Zuko was wearing and the only flesh visible to her were hands. Being from the Water Tribes, she herself would be more recognizable from a just small show of skin, but that was a double-edged sword because while that would make it easier for Zuko to spot her, it would do the same for Aang.

She cursed again and pulled the shimmering, gold-trimmed sleeves of her silk stateswoman dress as far as they would go over her hands. Why did Aang have to catch up with her _now_ when they were so close to bagging their target? The time it would take her to catch him up on the situation would probably cause her to miss her window to identify the man before he retired to whatever backroom he'd no doubt commandeered to do his dealing. She only hoped she managed to find him before Aang found her.

Actually, she decided after giving the matter some thought, forget looking for Zuko. They'd cover more ground if they searched independently. Sure, there was safety in numbers, but she and Zuko were both master benders who could hold their own if it came down to a fight. She just had to hope that Zuko would be on the same wavelength and focus on sniffing out their target rather than wasting his time searching for her.

Katara's eyes narrowed as she scanned the enormous ballroom with a critical eye. There had to be some kind of tell—some way for the merchant to signal the nobles looking to buy from him. He would likely be acting in some predetermined peculiar manner in order to attract the attention of the right people. He would also probably have something on his person, perhaps a piece of jewelry, that was distinctive enough to confirm his identity. Her first thought was a necklace. There were plenty of unique pendant designs that were suitably eye-catching. Or perhaps a broach…

As she worked the matter out in her head, a waiter glided by and offered her a glass from a tray. She took it thoughtlessly and lifted her mask just enough to throw it back, appreciating the refreshing coolness of the beverage after many minutes of power-walking through throngs of party-goers. Discarding the glass on a nearby table, she resumed her hunt, keeping her eyes peeled for striking jewelry.

That man over there chatting with a group of young women? No, he was wearing only a string of beads.

How about those three older-looking men discussing politics? Nope, not a single piece of jewelry between them.

Perhaps someone in that large ring of people talking by the buffet table? No, their jewelry was all generic gemstones.

Katara found herself quickly growing frustrated. This was like trying to find a pebble in a badger-mole's den. She'd be here all night if she tried to inspect the front of every man at the party.

Her frustration made her hungry and she retreated to the snack table to grab a few bites. She hadn't eaten since lunch and she always got a little grouchy on an empty stomach. She nabbed a few small eatables and another glass of whatever that waiter had been passing out and quickly pounded them down before returning to her search.

Feeling much better now that she had some food in her, she resumed her perusal of male jewelry fashions. Her target had to be here somewhere, she reasoned. Hanook had been certain that the merchant was selling the ivory at this function. If he wasn't here, then she couldn't think of any other— _there!_

At once, Katara's gaze zeroed in on a male figure wearing a necklace that didn't match that of anyone else she'd seen so far. It was a rusty red color with a thick silk cord and at the center of it hung a round, polished piece of wood with a distinctive pattern etched into its surface. _Bingo_ , she thought smugly.

Making her way over to the man, she straightened her dress and puffed out her chest alluringly. "Hey, there," she said when she got to him, lowering her voice just as she'd done with the pirates in Linfen. "Nice necklace, you got there." She raised a hand to lift the wooden pendant with a single finger and pretended to examine it. "Any special meaning behind it?"

The man seemed flustered by her bold action. "Well, actually it's a—" All at once he stopped and she saw the eyes of his mask look straight at the hand that was touching his necklace. "Wait…Katara?"

Katara froze. Hold on a minute. That voice. She looked up quickly and realized for the first time that behind his red monkey mask the man she'd approached had a clean-shaven head.

"Katara!" he said her name with more confidence this time. "It _is_ you. I knew you'd be here!" He made a lunge for her wrist but Katara was fast and retracted it just in time.

Prattling off every curse she knew in her head, she turned on her heel and fled into the crowd.

 _Shit! Shit! Shit!_ she swore as she ran. Of all the people for her to accidently mistake for her target, she had to find _Aang_. Oh, this was not good.

Thinking fast, she ripped off her mask and ducked into a large group of people. Cries of outrage and indignation followed as she snatched the mask off a random woman and shoved it onto her face, pausing only to thrust her own mask into the bewildered woman's hands. Before Aang could catch up to her and realize what she'd done, she burst out of the crowd and dove into another.

She continued to maneuver in and out of crowds until she was confident that she'd at last lost Aang. Only then did she stop and take a moment to catch her breath. Nearby was another tray of drinks and she took two, gulping them down with gusto.

Perhaps looking for the merchant on her own had been a bad idea after all. She was no closer to finding him than she'd been thirty minutes ago and all she'd achieved was confirming for Aang that she was here at the king's party.

She should've just looked for Zuko—worked together with him to come up with a plan of attack. They always worked best together. It was why she'd dragged him along on this mission in the first place.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she abandoned her glasses and tentatively peeked around the wall of people she'd positioned herself behind and scanned the crowd. She didn't see any red monkey masks and the people she'd disturbed seemed to have settled back into their conversations. The coast looked clear enough, so she stepped out from her hiding spot.

…And promptly stumbled into a marble pillar. Frowning in confusion, she used the pillar to help right herself and passed a hand over her eyes. Suddenly, she had a feeling almost like the room was swimming. She focused on the people nearby and after a moment her vision righted itself. She blinked a few times and when the problem didn't persist she decided to write it off as the heat getting to her and continued on.

She shoved past Earth Kingdom nobles and foreign dignitaries keeping a watchful eye out both for her target and the telltale red of Aang's mask and necklace. She knew better than to think he'd given up his hunt for her. As she trekked back across the ballroom, her eyes darting this wat and that, the vibrant clothes of the party-goers began to blend together in a whirl of color. There were just too many people to search through. Too much jewelry. Too many colors. She was starting to feel overwhelmed. A waiter offered her another drink and this time she sipped it slowly as she continued to walk. The flavor was syrupy and reminded her of peaches.

Was it just her or did the room seem louder than it had been before? It was like someone had gone around and given each person a rolled-up piece of paper to shout through. Katara winced at the noise and cast her gaze around for an exit. She needed some fresh air and a break from the crowded ballroom. She found what she was looking for: the large double doors leading back into the palace proper and she changed her trajectory to head for them.

She'd nearly made it when a hand alighted on her shoulder, halting her.

Startled, Katara turned her head and found herself staring at a red monkey face. _Uh oh_.

"Why'd you run from me, Katara?" Aang's voice came from behind the mask. He sounded hurt.

Katara struggled to find words to answer him. "Listen, Aang," she appealed to him. "You don't understand—"

"Talk to me outside," he cut her off, guiding her to the doors with a hand on her back. "It's way too noisy in here."

Katara found herself being steered out the door and at once she felt relief as the cool air of the connecting hallway struck her. The hallway's open-air design allowed the chilly night breeze to chase away the muggy heat of the ballroom. She heard the door close behind her with a resounding click and her relief abruptly fled when she realized that she and Aang were now alone.

"Alright, Katara. Explain," Aang commanded. He'd removed his mask and Katara could see the unhappy arch of his eyebrows as he stared at her impatiently. "Sokka told me your plan. He said that you went to the Earth Kingdom to apprehend the poachers yourself. I went to Linfen and confirmed his story with the authorities there. Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?"

Katara removed her own mask with a sigh. It looked like they were doing this after all. "Aang, I'm sorry. I just… the mission required a certain amount of _discreetness,_ and well…"

She trailed off when she caught a glimpse of movement behind Aang. Far down the hall, a group of people were exiting the ballroom from a second, smaller set of doors.

"Well, what?" Aang pressed, his frown deepening.

Katara ignored him. Her attention was fixed on the group now walking away from them down the hall. Her eyes narrowed.

"Katara?"

Katara held up a hand to silence him and affixed her mask back over her face. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, Aang. I really need to follow that group of people."

Not waiting for Aang to reply, she brushed past him and began jogging after the group.

Perhaps if she'd been in a clearer state of mind, she would've predicted that Aang wouldn't be satisfied to be brushed off in such a manner.

As she hurried down the corridor, her mind focused on sneakily joining the group of people who had left the ballroom so suspiciously, she wasn't at all prepared for Aang to run after her, feet slapping on the polished stone, and yell, "Katara! Where are you going? I wasn't done talking to you!"

At once, every member of the group stopped and their masked faces turned to see who had yelled. When they saw Aang, unmasked and furious, running down the hall directly toward them, Katara heard a voice cry out, "It's the Avatar!" The group burst into a flurry of panicked motion and a man in a lemur mask yelled, "Run!"

The group hurriedly split, their members taking off at a sprint down the hall. Katara cursed and shouted, "Hey! Stop right there!" before promptly giving chase. She mentally berated Aang for alerting her targets. Why oh _why_ did he have to confront her _now?_ He was ruining everything! She cursed again as her long dress tangled with her feet, threatening to trip her. Dammit, she wasn't dressed for a chase!

Luckily, Aang seemed to at last realize what was going on and he sped past her, overtaking the group in no time. Using his airbending, he sent a great gust through the corridor, knocking the fleeing criminals off their feet. Cries of surprise followed as butts landed on the hard floor and masks came loose and fell clattering to the ground. Katara wasted no time pulling water from the large vases that lined the hallway and freezing the would-be escapees in place.

Katara was ready to celebrate, thinking their mission was over, when she realized that there were two men still standing. One was tall and wore long robes of emerald and the other was stockier and wore a shorter-trimmed outfit of burnished gold. The man in green had his legs planted in an uncertain stance and appeared to be looking back and forth between her and Aang through the eye-holes of his leopard-fox mask. The gold-garbed man was not nearly so uncertain. He was already running again, leaving his partners in crime behind to save himself.

Aang frowned after him, disapproval written all over his face. "I don't think so!" he called after the man, and this time he used earthbending to send a ripple through the floor directly toward the two men. Katara watched with satisfaction as the gold-clad man was tossed onto his face and promptly encased in stone so that he couldn't run again. However, the green-robed man still didn't fall. He hopped deftly up onto a window ledge as the wave rippled through the place where he'd been standing and Katara could only watch dumbly as, without missing a beat, he jumped back down and lunged into a sprint.

Straight for her.

Normally, Katara would've reacted quicker, but her thoughts felt like they were swimming through a swamp as her brain attempted to send the signal to her limbs to move. She could only blink in surprise as the masked man barreled into her, catching her under the ribs with an arm and hoisting her easily up onto his shoulder. Before she could process what was happening, she and the green man were jumping up onto another window ledge and disappearing into the darkness.

oOo

* * *

The next thing Katara knew, she was being deposited onto a hard, cool surface. The starry sky was spread out above her and her nose was filled with the smell of plants. A quick glance around told her she was in the Earth Palace gardens. The man who had kidnapped her retreated a few steps, his soft slippers noiseless on the dry earth. Katara opened her mouth to yell at him for manhandling her, but before she could get a word out he pulled the mask from his face in one smooth motion and tossed it onto a patch of grass nearby.

Katara's angry tirade died on her tongue. "…Zuko?"

Zuko's eyes landed on hers. He looked non-too-happy. "Katara, what's going on?" he demanded. "Why is Aang here?"

Katara took off her own mask and shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Why was it so difficult to gather her thoughts? The world looked like it was spinning around Zuko as if he'd become the center of a merry-go-round. She tried her best to focus on him and not the tilt-a-whirl that was the rest of the garden. "He caught up to us," she answered, the statement taking more effort than it should've.

Zuko sighed and pushed a hand up into his hair, his eyes lifting to the heavens. "I knew he would," he muttered, now sounding resigned more than irritated. Looking back at her, he said, "I _did_ tell you. You don't give him enough credit."

Katara huffed and rolled her eyes. "Relax. He doesn't know that you're involved in this." Her nose scrunched up in thought and she added, "I think." Aang had only said that Sokka told him she went to Linfen. He never mentioned anything about Zuko. "Besides, the situation's been taken care of. We caught the crooks."

Zuko sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'd been hoping to glean some more information from them before having them arrested." With a huff, he sank down onto the stone seat beside her. "Who knows what kinds of other shady business that merchant's been involved in. It's going to be hard to make him talk behind bars."

Katara was only half listening now. She was captivated by the sharp ridge of Zuko's jaw and the handsome slope of his neck enhanced by the stiff, elegant collar of his robes. He looked fetching in party clothes. He'd looked fetching in his pirate attire as well. "Mm," she hummed to show that she was paying attention. Dragging her mind out of the swamp, she said, "Let King Kuei deal with that. At least now the world will know that the Fire Nation weren't the ones poaching our whales."

That was the most important thing, as far as Katara was concerned. The last thing she wanted was for this misunderstanding to sour the relationship between their nations.

After all, that would make things very difficult for Katara, who had decided some time ago that one way or another she was going to jump Zuko's bones.

This wasn't something she'd talked to anyone about, of course. When she'd realized for the first time that she was in love with Zuko she'd been sixteen and in a relationship with Aang. It had been a long and tricky road since that day.

With effort, Katara stood from her seat. "We should probably—"

She'd been about to suggest that they don their masks and slip back inside before Aang discovered the two of them out here and put two and two together, but before the words could finish leaving her mouth, she and Zuko were surprised by a shout splitting the air.

"Spread out and search the grounds! The fiend couldn't have gotten far!"

Katara and Zuko shared a panicked look. An order like that could only mean one thing: Aang had alerted the palace guard to her kidnapping.

Following the command, thundering footfalls could be heard encroaching on the spot where she and Zuko stood. Katara looked around for a spot to hide but there was nowhere enclosed enough to conceal themselves. With no time to run, Katara acted on instinct. She grabbed Zuko by the front of his robes and yanked him against her, backing up until her back was pressed against a tree. Before he could protest or ask what she thought she was doing, she hooked her arms around her neck and pulled him into a searing kiss.

Not a second later, a team of guards appeared from around a hedge.

"You there!" the one in front called out to them, his voice commanding. "Have you seen a…"

The guard faltered and the men behind him stopped in their tracks. "Oh, um, pardon me," he said weakly. Katara watched the man tip his helmet and gesture to his fellow guards. Wearing embarrassed looks, they retreated back the way they'd come, giving the intimately engaged couple their privacy.

When the guards were gone, Zuko attempted to pull away.

Katara didn't let him. She held fast, sliding a hand up into his hair and pressing her body flush against his. The haze in her mind helped her shut out all sources of stimuli outside of him. Zuko didn't fight her for long. Rather, he took a small step forward, smooshing her harder against the tree, and she felt the backs of his fingernails brush her cheeks with the tenderness of a lover. They broke apart briefly for air and Katara felt her whole body shiver when Zuko's warm breath ghosted over her neck. His body was warm and hard against hers and his touch was causing her hormones to go crazy. With abandon, she ground her hips into his and pulled his head back so she could access his throat. She placed her mouth against his skin, and probed the area with her tongue, causing him to make a noise that sent heat straight to her core.

Spirits, she'd never felt so turned on. Zuko wound his arms around her and grabbed her bottom with one hand to pull her pelvis against his again. She could feel his desire for her and it excited her. She rocked her hips against his again and made to draw him into another molten kiss when he abruptly pulled away, grabbing her shoulders to put distance between them.

"Katara," he said her name in a husky baritone. "Stop."

Katara almost didn't register his command through the haze of her desire. Stopping was the last thing she wanted to do, but she somehow managed to pull the break on her hormones to hear what he had to say.

Zuko bent his head to look into her eyes seriously. "We can't do this. You're in a relationship with Aang and—"

Katara didn't let him finish. "I'm not."

Zuko's eyes widened. "…what?" he said dumbly.

She nodded. "Aang and I are taking a break right now."

Zuko gave her a baffled look. "Huh? But back in Linfen you said that things were, and I quote, _just peachy_ between the two of you."

Katara fought the urge to roll her eyes. Goodness, Zuko could be awfully slow for someone who was expected to be wise enough to lead a country. "Did you really expect me to open that can of worms right there in the middle of the street while dressed like a tavern floozy?"

"Well, then, are you going to talk about it now?"

This time Katara did roll her eyes. She was too far gone for this conversation to be happening right now. "No. I'm going to keep kissing you and you're going to save your questions for a more appropriate time."

Her bit said, she pulled his face down to hers again and picked up right where they left off. If Zuko had any further protests he clearly decided that they were non-pressing enough to wait because he didn't try to stop her again.

Later, they would need to sit down and have a proper talk about this. Katara would make certain Zuko understood that she desired far more from him than a one-night-stand. She would explain to him exactly why she always went to him before Aang when she needed help with something. She would tell him unabashedly of the feelings she'd been suppressing for over a year.

But before that, she was probably going to puke out her guts, because the haze in her brain right now definitely wasn't just from hormones.

"Katara," Zuko murmured into her mouth. "We should take this inside."

And that too, she mentally tacked on. Even if she and Aang were taking a break, it really wouldn't do for him to find her sucking face with Zuko in the yard.

She broke away to nod in agreement and the two took off silent as panther-sharks in the direction of the palace.

oO0Oo

* * *

Abrupt ending is abrupt! Sorry, this was just getting WAY too long and let's be real, we were all just waiting for the juicy make-out anyway. Nobody cares what happens after that.

This actually wasn't originally how I was going to continue Vigilantes. I was pretty constrained by the prompt selection so I ended up modifying my plan heavily. Thanks to that, this conclusion isn't quite as satisfying as I would've liked. It also wasn't very cohesive in my opinion. I really struggled to write something that made sense but I found myself falling short at every turn. The result is that this story isn't nearly as strong as the first part. Unfortunately, I just didn't have enough time to work it into something better. I already sank way more time into it than I should've and that's put me on a very tight schedule for the rest of the prompts. But that's just part of doing these kinds of challenges. You can't expect it to be all smooth sailing.


	13. They Were Roommates

Today's story is just silly. Please don't think about it too hard. (I should probably up the rating for this one but I'm lazy and I'm preeetty sure none of you are children.)

* * *

 **Day Thirteen**

They Were Roommates

* * *

Katara hummed pensively and tapped the end of her brush against her cheek as she considered the problem before her. She needed a good premise. Something that would grab her reader's attention and hold it. Suki had told her once that that was the most fundamental part of writing a good romance scroll. Katara knew that if she wanted to impress the older girl, she needed to get this right.

She was, after all, on a mission to prove herself.

She frowned down at the paper as she scrounged around in her head for a good place to start. What did she know about romance scrolls? Absently, she began penning a list of words she associated with the genre.

Silly; smutty; contrived; tasteless…

Ugh. She let her head fall in her hands and groaned. Why had she agreed to do this again? Oh, right. It was because she'd gone and boasted to Suki that anyone could write romance.

"Oh? Then prove it," the Kyoshi captain had challenged, a smug glint in her eye. "If you can write a romance story on par with something by Kasumi Kurea or Xifani Maya then I'll submit that you're right. Hell, I'll even go into town and get you a whole box of those cakes you've been wanting."

The promise of cakes caused Katara's resolve to strengthen. She'd been wanting to try one of the popular Red Lion Teashop's famous almond cakes while she was in the Fire Nation but the cakes were so tremendously sought after that the shop always sold out immediately after opening. You had to wait in line for an hour early in the morning to even get a shot at them and even then there was no guarantee you'd make it before they were gone. Katara was no morning person and she hated standing in line so she'd given up on ever getting to try one. But here Suki was offering to acquire a whole box of them. Writing one silly little romance scroll was the least Katara was willing to do in exchange for a favor like that.

All romance scrolls were fundamentally the same, she reasoned as she continued to tap her cheek. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy exhibit immediate sexual tension. Girl and boy share a torrid and tawdry night of flowery lovemaking. Drama happens. Girl and boy spend a chapter either secretly or overtly pining for each other. More lovemaking. Girl and boy either live happily ever after or go their separate ways and never see each other again.

 _So, how does girl meet boy?_ she pondered as she stared down at her paper. Suddenly, her eyes widened and a smile grew on her face. She had the perfect idea. Dipping her brush into the pot of ink beside her paper, she began to write.

 _Su Yun was a girl who thought she had it all. She was from a well-to-do family, had a wonderful boyfriend, and had just been accepted into the prestigious Ba Sing Se university. But everything changed the day she met her roommate…_

o0o

* * *

Zuko brought his hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn as he walked through the silent halls of the Fire Nation palace. It was very late and he'd only just finished finalizing some important documents for next month's summit in Omashu. He'd wanted to get them finished as quickly as possible so that he could spend time with his friends who had all gathered to celebrate the summer solstice in the Fire Nation.

He'd been en route to his room to get some much needed sleep when he passed the library and saw lamplight pouring out from the crack where the door wasn't completely closed. Curious, he opened the door the rest of the way and peeked inside. At first, he didn't see anyone. The library was dark save for the lamp at the entrance which illuminated the doorway with its soft glow. Zuko was about to assume that the bookmaster had simply forgotten to douse it when he'd left for the evening, but then a small flicker of light caught his attention from far across the chamber where the private scholars' rooms were located.

 _Who in the world would be up at this hour?_ he wondered as he ran a tired hand through his shaggy, unbound hair.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Zuko padded silently across the darkened chamber to the place where whoever-it-was had set up their late-night work station.

What he found caused him to scrub his eyes with his palms to make sure he was seeing clearly. Katara sat hunched over the alcove's work desk with her back to him madly scribbling away at something with a writing brush. All around her feet, crumpled up balls of paper littered the floor. Curious what she was writing so furiously at such an hour, Zuko stepped closer and picked up one of the paper balls. Uncrumpling it and smoothing it out as best he could, he began to read.

 _Su Yun gasped in ecstasy as Li Dao's strong hands ran up and down her back. His touch was intoxicating and Su Yun arched into him as he peppered kisses down her neck and toward her chest. "Li Dao," she breathed her gorgeous yet insufferable roommate's name as one of his hands cupped her heaving bosom. "We can't. I have a boyfriend."_

 _Li Dao silenced her protests with a scorching kiss. His hand continued to knead her sensitive breast and she gasped again when his thumb flicked over her nipple. "Mmm, Li Dao…" she moaned into his mouth. "Don't stop!"_

Zuko's good eyebrow rose higher and higher as he continued to read. What in Agni's name was Katara doing writing porn in the library in the middle of the night? Since when did Katara even write?

Deciding to reveal his presence to the swiftly scribbling girl, he cleared his throat.

Immediately, Katara stilled. He saw her hand tighten on her brush and she turned around almost guiltily.

When she saw him standing there with the crumpled-up paper in his hand, her face turned a deep vermillion. "Zuko!" she said his name with a surprised squeak. "What are you doing here?"

Zuko cocked his head and brandished the paper demonstratively. "I could ask you the same thing." Bringing the paper to his face, he cleared his throat and read, _"Su Yun let out a long moan of pleasure as Li Dao's throbbing member nudged the delicate petals of her womanly flower."_

Immediately, Katara lunged from her seat and snatched the paper from his hand. Her face was burning brighter than Sozin's Comet. "It's—it's not what you think!"

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to explain.

"It's a challenge," she explained, her face still flaming. "Suki said she'd buy me a box of Red Lion's almond cakes if I could write a passable romance scroll."

Zuko blinked at her in surprise. "Wait. Let me get this straight. Suki asked you to write porn in exchange for some cake?"

Katara awarded him with a scowl. "It's not _porn_ , it's—well, okay, it _is_ porn, but the point isn't the porn, it's the whole story." Embarrassedly, she collected the stack of papers she'd assembled and tapped them on the desk to straighten them. "The story has to be good or Suki won't fulfill her end of the bargain."

Zuko nodded, bemused. He couldn't lie; his interest was piqued. "So, you just have to write a good story?" Taking a step toward her, he pointed at the stack of papers. "Mind if I have a look?"

Katara looked hesitant to hand her work over to him, but she must have decided that whatever was contained in those pages couldn't be any more embarrassing than what he'd already read because she handed the stack to him with a sigh.

Pulling a chair from a nearby table, Zuko sat down and began to read.

Ten minutes later, he lowered the stack and hummed.

"Well?" Katara asked nervously. "What did you think?"

Zuko hummed again as he thought of how to phrase his thoughts. "It's not bad," he told her evenly. "But there are a lot of plot contrivances that don't really make sense. The biggest one is the premise. First of all, who was in charge of pairing Su Yun and Li Dao as roommates? Ba Sing Se University has separate lodgings for men and women so it doesn't make sense for them to be put together. And if they're living elsewhere, then wouldn't they have to have agreed to live together beforehand? Also, why is Su Yun even going to Ba Sing Se University? Her passion is fashion. She'd be better served at a trade school, not an academy for scholars. And for that matter, what is Li Dao doing there? From what I can tell, his only hobbies are brooding and working out."

Katara wilted at his criticism. Her head fell and she shoulders slumped. "I thought it was pretty good…"

Suddenly, Zuko felt bad. He hadn't meant to sound so critical. "Like I said, it's not bad. Most of it is pretty solid, actually. I just think the premise could use some reworking."

Katara pulled herself up in her seat and offered him a wry smile. "Alright. I guess it's back to the drawing board, then." She stood and raised her arms high above her head, stretching her back. "But first, sleep. I think I'll have better luck if I come back fresh tomorrow."

Zuko stood as well. "Same. I'm beat." He waited while Katara gathered up her work and tossed out all the discarded papers strewn about the ground. When she was done tidying, he said, "Well, good luck. I'll be looking forward to reading what you come out with."

Katara blushed and nodded. "Oh, and Zuko," she appealed to him, sounding slightly nervous. "Don't tell anyone about this. Please."

Zuko smiled and gave her a single, definitive nod. "Sure."

oO0Oo

* * *

To be continued in Day Sixteen


	14. Festival

Oh, it'll be a festival alright.

This is my second time writing for this prompt. Festival was a prompt in 2012's Zutara Month as well. I tried to make this time around just as fun as the story I wrote that time, but in a different way.

* * *

 **Day Fourteen**

Festival

* * *

"Wow. Our first harvest festival all together. Isn't that crazy?"

Sokka took a break from gnawing on his grilled goose-turkey stick to answer the young airbender. "How do you mean?"

"I mean I can't believe it's really the first time we've celebrated the harvest together," Aang reiterated. "It feels like we've known each other for, like, ages. Don't you think?"

Team Avatar looked around at each other, bemused. It was true. It really did feel like they'd known each other for much longer than just three quarters of a year.

"Well, this is Sokka and my first harvest festival period," Katara pointed out with a grin.

Toph shrugged and picked at her ear with her pinky. "Eh. You weren't missing much. Just a bunch of vegetables and dry grass."

"And _food,"_ Sokka reminded her, waving his meat stick in her face.

To Sokka's great horror, Toph responded by snatching the stick out of his hand and taking a bite off it. "And that," she agreed through a mouthful of meat.

Letting out a strangled cry, Sokka grabbed the stick back from her and scuttled away to hide behind Zuko. He shot Toph a betrayed look that she couldn't see and bent protectively over his meat. Zuko crinkled his nose at the blue-clad boy and took a very exaggerated step away from him.

Turning back to Aang, Toph said, "But I still don't know why you dragged us all the way to this middle of nowhere Earth Kingdom village to celebrate the festival. Why are there so many people here, anyway?"

Suki placed her hands on her hips and looked around at their surroundings curiously. "She's right. It is awfully crowded for such a small village. What's the deal?"

Aang answered the two of them with a wide grin. "It's because of that." He lifted a hand and pointed his finger across the busy thoroughfare to where a large and very out of place mansion loomed over the village.

"Oh, I've been wondering about that," Katara said, mirroring Suki and putting her hands on her hips. "What exactly is it? It looks like a mansion but it's all…old and decrepit-looking."

"That," Aang answered her, "Is this town's call to fame. It's what makes this village the absolute _best_ place to celebrate the harvest."

"A dingy old house?" Zuko said skeptically, coming up beside Katara. The two of them shared a confused look.

"You'll see," Aang said ambiguously. He gestured at the group to follow. "Just come with me. I promise it'll be fun."

oOo

* * *

Katara frowned in confusion as they approached the old mansion. From the looks of it, the place had once been very beautiful, but time and poor upkeep had reduced it to a husk of its previous splendor. The rice-paper window shutters were stained and torn and the yard was overgrown. The whole place had a sort of uninviting eeriness about it that made Katara raise a skeptical brow. " _This_ is the town's call to fame? It looks like it might fall apart at any minute. Are you sure we should be going inside a place like this?"

Aang, who hadn't stopped grinning the whole way to the mansion, nodded confidently. "Yep." He walked up to the ancient-looking wooden sliding door and with a swift tug pulled it open. It rattled ominously. Turning back to the group, Aang waved them forward. "Come on! I wanna see if it's the same as I remember."

He disappeared into the mansion and hesitantly the group followed. First Toph, who had her arms behind her head and looked like she couldn't care less, then Sokka and Suki, and finally Katara shared another look with Zuko and the two of them took up the rear.

Katara's frown deepened when she stepped into the foyer and found that the place was totally dark. It sure didn't seem like anyone was home. "Um…are you sure we should be here?" she questioned. From what she could see of the manor's inside, the place was covered in dust. "I don't think anyone's living here."

"That, or the owner really needs to hire a cleaning service," Suki agreed. She crouched down and ran a finger over the floor boards. The finger came away coated in grime and she grimaced. "Yeesh."

"Don't worry, guys. It's—"

Aang was cut off when the door behind Katara abruptly slid closed with a resounding clang. At once, the group was thrust into total darkness.

"Katara!" Sokka's voice called accusingly from somewhere in front of her. "Why'd you close the door?"

Katara glowered at the area where Sokka was standing. "It wasn't me!"

The darkness receded when Zuko lit a fire in his palm, casting the group's faces in flickering orange light.

"Thanks, Zuko," Katara told him, giving him a grateful smile.

Now that she could see again somewhat, Katara stepped gingerly back over to the door and grabbed the handle. With a grunt, she tugged the heavy slab of wood. To her confusion, it didn't budge. "Huh?" she voiced, bewildered.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asked, coming up beside her.

"It won't open. It's like it's locked or something."

Without needing to say anything, Zuko exchanged places with her. He held his fire aloft in his left hand and grabbed the door handle with his right. Katara watched him give the door an experimental tug and when it failed to open for him as well he set his stance and threw his weight into it. The door didn't even wiggle.

"Don't tell me we're stuck in here," Toph groaned from somewhere across the room.

"I'm sure there's another way out," Aang said chipperly. "You guys wait here. I'll go find a candle or something." He lit a fire of his own, illuminating his face, and waved it demonstratively before turning and disappearing through a doorway.

"I'm going with Twinkletoes," Toph announced and then she was gone as well.

The remaining four shared a look and Suki shrugged. "I guess we'll just wait here, then."

With Aang and Toph gone, the group lapsed into silence. Inwardly, Katara sighed. It was just their luck to get trapped in some spooky old house when they should be enjoying the festival. What was with this place, anyway? Using the light of Zuko's fire to look around, she saw that the foyer was even more decrepit than the outside of the house. The edges of the room were littered with broken furniture and the floorboards were brittle and full of gaps. She couldn't see all the way to the far end of the room but she thought she'd seen the shadow of another doorway there. Nearby, a narrow set of stairs led up to a higher floor.

Minutes passed in silence. Katara continued to wait, wondering what was taking Aang and Toph so long. Suddenly, a sound like footsteps came from above, breaking the silence with wooden creaking. The quartet looked up at the high, shadowed ceiling.

"Are they upstairs?" Sokka vocalized the group's confusion.

"Sounds like it," Zuko agreed.

There was a moment of confused silence which Suki broke. "But the stairs are right here," she said, pointing at the fixture in question.

Another period of silence followed her statement. Katara could practically hear her companions' brains working. "Well, it's a big house," she pointed out. "Maybe there's more than one set of stairs?"

"Or maybe that's the owner," Suki said, her tone brightening. She grabbed Sokka's arm and nodded to the doorway where Aang and Toph had disappeared. "Why don't we go check if those guys are still over there. If that was the owner, then they can help us get out."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, sure." He and Suki broke away and approached the doorway. Their footsteps caused the whole foyer to creak and groan. "Hey, Aang! Toph! You guys still in there?"

Katara watched as the pair disappeared into the dark portal just as Aang and Toph had. Turning to Zuko, she said, "It is strange that they've been gone so long. Do you think they got lost?"

Zuko shrugged. "Maybe. Toph's seismic sense doesn't work on wood, right?"

Katara nodded. "That's true. Come to think of it, I'm surprised she even agreed to come in with us. She normally hates houses like this."

The two lapsed into silence again as they continued to wait. Above them, the creaking of footsteps came again and Katara watched the ceiling curiously. Someone was definitely up there.

Tentatively, she touched Zuko's arm, drawing his attention. "I think we should follow Sokka and Suki. It's probably better to stick together. That way we don't have to go looking for each other later."

Zuko nodded. "Alright."

The two left the door and crossed the foyer, following the tracks in the dust left by their friends. As they walked, Katara continued to look around. Zuko's firelight revealed that the walls were dirty and stained rusty brown in places. The sight gave her the shivers. Why in the world had Aang wanted to come to a place like this?

They stepped past the doorway and found themselves in a parlor of sorts. There was a table in the center of the room and broken chairs were littered about the place. Everything was covered in dust, just like the foyer, but here the dust was disturbed. Tracks covered the floor as if a large group of people had come through and stomped all around the place. What stopped Katara in her tracks, however, was that the room was entirely enclosed. There were no entrances or exits apart from the one she and Zuko had come in through, and yet, Sokka, Suki, Aang, and Toph were nowhere to be found.

"What in the…" Zuko started, casting his hand around to illuminate the room as much as possible. "Where did they go?"

Disturbed, Katara took a step back toward the entrance. "We saw them come in here. It was definitely this room."

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand grab her arm but it was just Zuko. His mouth was set in a straight line and he looked uncomfortable. "Let's go back."

Katara didn't need to be told twice. She nodded and together they turned around and left the parlor.

…Only to stop in their tracks once again when they reentered the foyer and found that the room had changed. As if by magic, a number of wall sconces had been lit, illuminating the whole room. Now that the darkness had been chased away, however, Katara promptly wished that it hadn't.

The blotchy brown stains on the wall weren't water damage as she'd initially suspected. She cupped a hand over her mouth in horror as she took in the true state of the room. High up on the walls, human corpses were strung up like wall scrolls. Their bodies were covered in lacerations that leaked sticky brown blood down the walls and their faces were white in death. Katara stumbled backward and let out a scream. Her legs gave out but Zuko was there, catching her and steadying her against his side.

At the sound of her scream, one of the corpses, a long-haired man in Earth Kingdom green abruptly jerked his head up, revealing that he was still alive. "You…" he croaked, fresh blood spilling from his mouth. "You must…leave. Go…now."

Katara gaped at him in horror. "You're…alive."

He shook his head weakly. "I'm done for. But you…can still get away." He jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. "Go…up. Hurry!"

Katara shook her head and broke away from Zuko to take a step forward. "Hold on," she pleaded. "I can heal you!"

The man just sighed a long, shuddering sigh and his head slumped forward onto his chest.

Zuko grabbed her wrist and gave her an urgent look. "We don't have time, Katara. We need to find the others!"

Katara wanted to protest, but the words died in her throat when the lights flickered and an awful clanking noise came from the doorway Katara had seen on the far side of the room. It sounded like the metallic clanking of iron shackles. Zuko was right. They needed to get out of here immediately.

They hurried for the stairs. Zuko paused at the bottom and allowed Katara to go up first before following close behind her.

At the top of the stairs, they found a long hallway. The moment they reached the top step, flames flickered to life in the wall sconces just like they had in the foyer, showing that the hallways was lines with identical-looking wooden doors. At the far end of the hallway was a more ornate door that Katara imagined led further into the house.

Slowing to a walk, the two benders hesitantly started down the hallway. Both were on edge and they stuck as close together as possible. Sharing a look, they silently agreed to ignore the line of doors along the hallway and head straight for the one at the end. However, the moment they tried to walk past the first door, they were stopped by a soft knocking coming from the other side.

"Excuse me," the high-pitched voice of a child came from behind the door. "Is somebody there?"

Katara looked at Zuko, conflicted. Zuko also looked uncertain but then he shook his head. "We need to focus on finding Sokka and the others," he said quietly. "If there are other people trapped in this house, we can send help for them after we escape."

Once again, the voice sounded from beyond the door. "You're there aren't you? I can hear your heart beating."

Katara's face paled. Okay. They definitely needed to leave. She grabbed Zuko's hand and as quietly as they could they crept away from the door. They came to the next door and once again, there was a knock as they passed. "Your blood is loud," the same voice came again.

Katara felt Zuko squeeze her hand urgently and they picked up their pace. They passed another door, and yet again the voice appealed to them. "You're trying to be quiet but I know you're there."

Katara clamped a hand over her mouth and continued on, trying her best to ignore the voice of the child.

At last, they arrived at the end of the hallway and to Katara's great relief no knocking or voices came from this door. Zuko grabbed the handle and pushed it open.

The two benders stepped into this new area slowly, their eyes darting every which way to make sure they weren't going to be jumped. What they found was a large corridor—or what Katara guessed was a corridor. It was difficult to make out the exact layout of the room because it was absolutely cluttered with mirrors. They lined every wall and free-standing mirrors blocked their view of the other side of the room in a haphazard arrangement.

Hesitantly, Katara released Zuko's hand and ventured further into the room. "What is this place?" she wondered aloud.

Zuko walked forward as well. "It looks like some sort of storage area," he answered. "…For mirrors."

Katara shivered. "I never thought something as mundane as a mirror could be so creepy." Turning to beckon Zuko along, she said, "Come on. Let's just get through here so we can get out of this terrible place."

Zuko didn't need telling twice. He hurried to walk alongside her and together they began picking their way through the maze of mirrors. At least this room didn't have any bodies or creepy children, she thought as they maneuvered through the room, but it was kind of unsettling to see her and Zuko's reflections scattered about the room as if there were a dozen copies of them all searching for the exit.

Katara guessed they'd made it about halfway through the room when something caught her eye that made her blood run cold. She saw movement in one of the mirrors that wasn't her or Zuko. Stopping abruptly, she held out a hand to halt Zuko as well. "Zuko," she whispered.

Zuko placed his hand on her shoulder and she saw his reflection nod. "I know. I saw it too."

Katara shivered again and wrapped her arms around herself. "I hate this place. I want to get out of here."

Zuko used the hand on her shoulder to turn her around and pull her against his chest. He held her there for a moment and in a low voice said, "Stay calm. We're going to find the exit." She saw his lips turn upward and he added, "Remember that we can fight if we need to. Whatever's living here can't be worse than Azula."

Katara felt some of her anxiousness diminish. Zuko was right. This house might be creepy as all get out, but they were two of the strongest benders in the world and together they were a force to be reckoned with. She lifted a hand and placed it atop Zuko's lightning scar. The wound still wasn't completely healed but it stood as a testament to Zuko's strength and a reminder that together they could do anything.

She took a calming breath and pulled away to give her companion a nod. "You're right. Thanks, Zuko."

Zuko gave her a genuine smile. Then his face sobered and he nodded to the path ahead. "Let's keep moving."

They continued carefully through the maze. Every now and again, Katara would catch that flash of movement in one of the mirrors, but she did her best to ignore it and push on.

The further they progressed through the room, however, the more frequent and clear the flashes became. Katara found her eyes darting this way and that, trying to get a proper glimpse of whoever was in the room with them. With her nervousness rising, Katara's pace began to increase. _Just get through this. Just get through this,_ she chanted in her head. She thought they'd almost made it to the end when suddenly a figure appeared right beside her and Zuko in the mirrors' reflection. At last, their pursuer had shown themselves.

The figure was a small girl garbed in a ratty blue tunic not dissimilar to Katara's own. She had long, shaggy brown hair and crystal blue eyes and Katara and Zuko both stopped abruptly at the sight of her. Katara's eyes widened and she looked at the spot beside herself where the girl should be standing in order to appear with them in the mirror but the spot was empty. She was forced to look back up at the mirror when the girl suddenly began speaking.

"I knew there was someone here," she spoke with the same voice as the child from the previous room. "I told you, you're too loud. But don't worry. I can make you quiet."

The girl raised her thin arms and at first Katara was confused when she just held them there, unmoving, but then she saw Zuko's eyes widen in the mirror and he grasped her arm. "Katara! Look down!" he directed urgently.

Look down she did, and what Katara found caused her to suck in a breath. What had once been bare wooden floorboards was now a river several inches deep. As she watched, the water rose, creeping up her calves at an unnatural rate. "What the—!" she vocalized her confusion. All around them, the whole room had become a lake. The water sloshed at her boots as Zuko took a step backward, putting distance between himself and the girl in the mirror.

Thinking fast, Katara sank into a bending pose and attempted to grab hold of the water, but to her horror, the water resisted her control. It was as if there was another force fighting against her. Zuko, seeing her struggle, grabbed her wrist and began pulling her toward the far wall where the exit had to lie. "Forget it!" he ordered. "Let's just move!"

They began trudging for the exit but the water continued to rise, reaching their thighs and then their waists, greatly slowing their progress. Unable to run now, they waded frantically toward their destination. The water rose up their chests and had nearly reached Katara's neck when at last, they burst through the line of mirrors and found a door before them. Katara fumbled for the doorknob, unable to see it through the combination of water and poor lighting.

"Hurry!" Zuko called to her as the water continued to rise.

Finally, Katara's hand brushed the knob and she grasped in firmly. Giving it a single, deft twist, the door flew open and Katara found herself being sucked through the doorway as gravity caused the water to rush out. She floundered helplessly as the tide carried her along and she realized belatedly that she was sliding down some sort decline. The water and gravity continued to carry her down, down, down, until the slope bottomed out and she was deposited on soft earth. Not a moment later, she felt something solid barrel into her and when she opened her eyes again she discovered that something was Zuko who had been swept down as well and now joined her in a tangled heap.

"Ouch," he uttered, deadpan, as he began to disentangle himself from her and search for his footing.

Katara did the same, pulling herself into a standing position and brushing the dirt from her dress. To her great surprise, she discovered that she was completely dry. She looked at the place where she and Zuko had come from and found a metal slide. It was long and she was unable to see the top through the gloom. "A slide? What kind of crazy house has a slide on the other side of a door?" she heard Zuko vocalize beside her.

"More importantly," Katara answered him, "where are we now?"

The moment the words left her mouth, candles began flickering to life all around them, chasing away the darkness. The answer to her question became apparent as the candles' light illuminated a series of barred cells arranged in two rows on either side of the room. Inside the cells, skeletons garbed in all four nations' colors huddled in corners, their clothes filthy and ragged. Some of them still had clumps of hair and jerky-dry skin. In the center of the room, not enclosed in any cell, was a stone casket on a raised pedestal.

"It looks like some kind of dungeon," Zuko said. His golden eyes flitted about the place warily, taking in every detail of the room. "Dungeon-tomb?"

Looking at the rotting skeletons, Katara thought she might be sick. "It's awful. These poor people..."

Suddenly, a high-pitched cackle split the air, causing both Katara and Zuko to nearly jump out of their skin. Looking around frantically, they found the source of the sound. One of the skeletons had straightened and was watching them with hollow eye sockets. "Don't feel bad for us, little lady. Our suffering's already ended."

The two watched in horror as the talking skeleton lifted a bony arm and extended its finger straight toward them. "Yours, on the other hand, is just beginning."

As if the skeleton's words were a signal, every other skeleton in the room suddenly began to stir. The rattling of bones filled the room as the skeletons pulled themselves to their feet and began ambling toward the doors of their cells. Every one of them had their faces trained on Zuko and herself.

It was too much. Katara screamed. Mindlessly, she began running across the room. The only thought in her panicked brain was that she needed to find an exit. She needed to get away from here as fast as possible. She couldn't take this anymore.

She sprinted past the stone casket knowing instinctively that if she paused some nasty ghoul would pop out of it as well. Behind her, Zuko's feet pounded on the earthen floor. The rattling of bones continued to surround them, their sound rising to a cacophony pitch.

"There's nowhere to run!" the skeleton's voice called gleefully after them. "You'll be trapped here with us forever!"

Katara didn't listen. Ahead of her was a short set of stairs, and at the top of it was a pair of inclined wooden cellar doors. She and Zuko raced up the stairs and together they threw their weight against them.

The doors opened easily and chilly autumn air blasted Katara's body. She stumbled as she exited but Zuko caught her, saving her from a painful impact with mud and leaves.

…leaves?

Getting her feet under her, Katara looked around. She wasn't in the house anymore. Above her was blue sky. Some distance away, she could hear the happy voices and bustle of people enjoying the autumn festival. And in front of her…

"Hey, Katara! Zuko! You made it!"

There was Aang, looking cheerful as can be. Beside him Sokka and Suki stood grinning at them and some distance behind them Toph was leaning against a tree.

"…What?" was the only word Katara could find as she looked at them.

"Took you long enough," Toph grumbled from her tree.

"So, how'd you like the haunted house? Pretty scary, huh?"

Katara shared a bewildered look with Zuko. Looking back at Aang, Zuko said, "…the what?"

"Man, I nearly wet myself!" Sokka declared, stretching his arms high into the air to flex his back. "The guy with the sickle was terrifying."

Suki giggled behind her hand. "You guys should've seen it. He frightened Sokka so bad he ran head first into a wall."

"Wait," Katara said slowly. "Are you saying that none of that…was real?"

"Yep," Sokka confirmed. "Apparently, spooky houses like this are an Earth Kingdom tradition."

"That's why I brought you guys here," Aang confirmed. "Because this one is the scariest of them all."

Beside her, Zuko scowled at the short airbender. "You could've warned us. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!"

"And ruin the surprise? No way!" Aang exclaimed. "That would do you a huge disservice. It wouldn't be any fun if you knew what to expect."

"Well," Katara said, feeling suddenly warn out, "I think I've had my fill of surprises for one day. I vote we leave this horrid place and get some food."

"Seconded!" Sokka voiced his support for this plan. "Oh! Oh! I wanna try the noodle cart!"

Without pausing to wait for the others, he grabbed Suki's hand and began jogging back in the direction of the thoroughfare.

"Hey, wait!" Aang called after him. "I want noodles too!" He promptly took off after them, leaving Katara, Zuko, and Toph behind.

Katara paused to take another look back at the house and a shiver ran through her. Fake or not, she _really_ didn't like that place. The sooner they left, the better.

Zuko must have seen her shiver because he stepped close to her and silently grabbed her hand.

Katara shot him a grateful smile and gave his hand a squeeze. Without another word, the two of them, along with Toph, began the short trek back to the festival.

oO0Oo

* * *

Welp. That was officially the longest story yet. This one probably could've stood alone as its own story, though that would've required giving it a bit more context and substance. Length alone does not a standalone story make.

Writing a haunted house is surprisingly difficult. It was fun, but I don't think I'll be attempting something like this again anytime soon. Regardless, it was fun to have a fic with the whole gang involved. I feel like I've been focusing too much on just Katara and Zuko (and Aang) in this collection so it was nice to give the others a chance to shine a little.

Tomorrow is the second part of my Western AU. I know most of you aren't a fan of AUs (I'm not either) but I'm pretty excited for it. I'm having a blast writing angry sheriff's-daughter!Katara.


	15. Courting

This is the continuation of Day Seven. Make sure you read that one first!

* * *

 **Day Fifteen**

Courting (Of a sort.)

* * *

 **August**

Katara threw open the doors to the Ember Steelworks. So far she hadn't had much luck in her quest to rid her town of this horrid company, but she was going to continue to harangue its intolerable owner until he finally caved and slunk back to wherever it was he came from. She was determined.

She found him in the usual place. He was testing another rifle while his bookkeeper and personal secretary, a former navy lieutenant named Jee, stood by.

Seeing her coming, Zuko waved his hand, dismissing Jee. "Katara," he greeted her as she joined him by his makeshift firing range. "Right on schedule, as always."

It took every ounce of Katara's self-control not to punch the mill's owner in his smug face. It had only been a few days and already he was treating her like she was his 2pm meeting.

Aggressively straightening her miles of skirts to stop herself from doing something violent to the young man in front of her, Katara brought her eyes up to his and gave him a look full of murder. "Is there a problem with me coming to check in on you every day?" she questioned in a dangerously calm voice. "Because if you don't like how we do things in this town, you're invited to leave it."

Zuko's lips curved into an infuriating smile that fell upon her like a ray of light from heaven. "Absolutely no problem at all. Your visits are a pleasure and a joy."

Katara ground her teeth together in anger. Oh, how she hated this man. No matter how big an inconvenience she tried to be to him—how much she surely annoyed him—he never showed any disdain for her. It was quickly driving her up a wall.

"Splendid," she ground out, her eyes flashing to show exactly how little she meant the word. "Then I'll continue to drop by and make sure you're running this mill honestly and fairly. And if I catch even a whiff that you're exploiting any of the labor you've hired or are inflating prices, I'll have you thrown to the dogs faster than you can draw a revolver. Am I clear?"

Zuko's smile faltered just slightly. It was only for an instant but Katara caught it. He didn't let on any change in demeanor however when he answered, "I don't expect you will take any fault with the way I run this mill, but I'll keep your promise in mind."

Katara merely nodded stiffly and then left him to make a show of inspecting the compound as she'd threatened to.

She _would_ expose his villainy. It was only a matter of time until his angelic façade cracked and he showed who he really was. She would be ready when that time came.

oOo

* * *

 **September**

Katara was confused. It had been a month now since the Ember Steel Company had moved into their town and so far nothing at all dastardly had been done by its proprietor. This was perplexing to her because just that morning she'd picked up a copy of the national press at the general store and the front page story was about how a town just a few miles from their own was on the verge of economic collapse due to hiked up steel prices. Everyone knew that Ember Steel had a monopoly on the steel industry. The article even specifically named Ember Steel as the root of the problem.

So then why weren't they seeing the same thing in their own town? Perhaps, she conjectured, Zuko was waiting until he had a firm enough grip on their town before he showed his true colors. Or maybe her father's railroad deal was keeping Zuko too busy to concoct any evil plots. It would explain why her dad had acted so certain that the company moving in wouldn't be harmful to them.

Still, Katara could abide by her father's decision. Sooner or later, they would begin to go the route of all those other towns. She needed to convince Zuko to leave before that happened.

oOo

* * *

 **October**

"Why are you always out here shooting guns, anyway? Shouldn't you be overseeing the building of the tracks?"

Zuko lowered the rifle he'd been pointing at the poor, beaten up target and gave her an inquisitive glance with yellow eyes.

"I mean, eight times out of ten when I come to visit you're out here shooting these things." She gestured to the case of firearms at their feet. "Shouldn't you be focusing more on your job?"

Zuko straightened into a more natural position and places a hand on his hip. "This _is_ my job."

Katara blinked back at him. "Pardon?"

Zuko nodded and held up the rifle for her to see. "All the metal you see here is made by our company. Not many people know this, but Ember Steel is actually part of a weapons manufacturing conglomerate called Empire. Originally, Empire was just a firearms company, but over time, my father's wealth and prestige grew and he began acquiring steel mills so he could expand his influence and better control the means of production. I prefer to work more on the steel end of things, but I also build rifles and pistols for government use."

Katara's eyes widened as she absorbed what Zuko had just told her. "Wait. You said your 'father'. Does that mean Ozai's your _dad_?"

Zuko confirmed this by nodding. "That's right."

Katara took a step back in shock. So, that's how Zuko became branch head at such a young age. Being Ozai's son would make him heir to the Ember Steel empire.

More than that, it made him the son of a dirty crook.

Katara's lips pulled down into a severe frown. "Well," she said, recovering somewhat. "I'm sure the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You'll show your true colors one of these days, and I'll be ready."

With that, she turned around and marched away.

oOo

* * *

 **November**

Katara's teeth chattered as she walked down the packed-earth street to the general store. She needed to buy more feed for the chickens and she also needed to stop by the butcher's and pick up some steaks. today was her father's birthday and she'd promised to help her grandmother cook him a nice meal.

She tossed the heavy bag of feed over her shoulder and was preparing to move on to the butcher's when the door to the general store opened suddenly and a figure collided with her. The impact wasn't hard enough to be painful, but it knocked her back and the weight of the bag on her shoulder displaced her center of gravity. She resigned herself to falling right onto her rear when a hand appeared on her back and straightened her.

"Sorry," Zuko's apologetic voice rang in her ears and that's when she realized exactly who it was that had run into her.

Katara had been all set to tell the person not to worry about it and thank them for catching her but now knowing that it was Zuko she closed her mouth and breezed past him without a word.

She'd made it to the street before Zuko caught up to her. "Wait, Katara!" he called as he hopped the short set of wooden steps down to the street and came up beside her. "I'm sorry for bumping into you. I didn't realize you were right on the other side of the door."

When she kept walking, Zuko merely sped up to keep pace with her. Katara shot him an annoyed look over her sack of chicken feed. She was cold, laden with eighteen pounds of dried corn, and she just wanted to finish her shopping and go home.

Zuko seemed to understand her predicament because he tentatively asked, "Um, are you okay? Do you need any help?"

Katara turned up her chin and continued walking. "You can help by leaving my town."

Zuko exhaled a short, put-upon sigh and suddenly the weight of the sack on her shoulder disappeared. "I'll carry this for you," he said, not giving her any room to argue. "It's the least I can do for running into you."

Katara scowled at him but allowed him to help her. It would be far easier to carry the meat without the sack of feed weighing her down and if Zuko was willing to go out of his way to be her mule she supposed there was no reason to deny him.

The two walked in silence down the row of buildings to the butcher's shop. Katara thought Zuko would make small talk or attempt to sweeten her with flattery but he didn't. He did exactly as he'd promised, merely carrying her burden and giving her shoulders a break.

When they reached the butcher's Zuko hopped up the short set of stairs ahead of her and opened the door for her. As Katara walked into the shop, she had to admit, however grudgingly, that even if he was an evil business tycoon's son, Zuko was a gentleman. He entered behind her and dutifully kept step with her as she approached the counter.

"Well, if it isn't Katara," Bato, the owner of the shop, greeted her fondly. "I had an inkling I'd be seeing you today."

Bato was an old friend of her dad's. They'd been in the army together for a time back before her dad had met her mom and they'd remained the tightest of chums ever since. To Katara, Bato had always been something of an uncle figure and Bato accordingly treated her and her brother as his niece and nephew.

Bato's eyes travelled past her to land on Zuko and one of his eyebrows rose. "But this is quite a curious development. I always knew I'd be seeing you in here with a man one of these days, but I wasn't expecting it to be that one."

Katara felt her cheeks flush and she leveled Bato with an unimpressed glare. "Please," she said, scrunching up her nose. "I'd sooner eat my own hair than accept the affections of that son of a crook.

To her surprise, Bato threw his head back and laughed. When he'd composed himself, he shot a grin at Zuko and said, "You're in for the long haul with this one. Prettiest girl in all the West, but with a stubborn streak as wide as the Mississippi. She gets it from her mother."

Zuko merely offered Bato an amused smile, saying nothing. Katara ignored both of them and ordered her meat.

Her shopping done at last, Zuko dropped her off at her home, setting the sack of feed under the porch as instructed. Begrudgingly, she thanked him for his help. "Thanks, Zuko. It was kind of you to help me with my shopping."

Zuko smiled and nodded. The chilly November wind tousled his hair and Katara inwardly kicked herself for thinking the picture he made standing out front of her family's house with his hands in the pockets of his work trousers was quite fetching.

Annoyed at herself, Katara hurried inside and slammed the door shut behind her, determined not to waste a single thought on Zuko for the rest of the day.

oOo

* * *

 **December**

"You know, Katara. I can't help but notice that you've seemed a little more tolerant of Mr. Redford in recent weeks. I knew you'd warm to him sooner or later."

Katara shot her father a glare across the table. "There has been _no_ warming, I assure you," she corrected him promptly. "I'm treating him civilly simply because he has yet to do anything dastardly, but I'm confident that will change come spring."

Hakoda raised his eyebrows at his daughter. "Oh?"

Katara nodded. "Spring is when demand for steel becomes the highest. He'd be a fool of a businessman not to take advantage of that." She stuck her fork with force into a boiled carrot and the matter was dropped.

oOo

* * *

 **January**

Katara shivered as she stepped into the warm steelworks and closed the doors tightly behind her to block out the chill. January was the coldest month of the year and she'd made a point of spending an increased amount of time at the mill to escape the weather.

The air inside the mill was cozy and warm from the forges and Katara unbuttoned her woolen frock coat with a happy sigh. No sooner had she pulled her arms from the sleeves, the garment was taken from her and placed neatly on a hook near the door. Katara made a show of taking her time to physically acknowledge Zuko's presence. "Oh," she said tonelessly when her eyes finally landed on him. "You're still here."

Zuko smiled and began walking away from her toward the stairs that led to the overlook where his office was situated. Katara followed out of habit and didn't protest when a mug of hot milk with honey was deposited into her hands. She took a sip, shivering again as the pleasantly warm liquid heated her insides. "How's progress going on the tracks?" she asked with honest curiosity as she lowered herself into the cushioned chair adjacent to Zuko's desk. The chair had magically appeared one day several weeks ago and Katara suspected Zuko had put it there expressly for her use.

"Well, actually," was he started. He pulled a sheet of paper from a cubby hole above his desk and laid it in front of her. "We're ahead of schedule and predicted to remain that way so long as we don't have to deal with any equipment malfunctions due to inclement weather." He pointed to some numbers on the paper that Katara didn't really understand but she didn't let that on to him. "You father is looking to start laying the tracks come March so we've been organizing shipments for transport. The goal is to extend the rail service as far as Tofteville by the end of the summer."

Katara raised her eyebrows at this. That was certainly an ambitious goal. Now that she thought about it, she did remember her father meeting with Tofteville's mayor a few weeks ago. They'd been discussing timeframes for the building of a train station there.

Katara looked down at her mug pensively for a moment before looking back at Zuko and saying. "Well, then. I suppose it can't be helped. I'll have to endure your presence at least until the end of summer." Setting her mug delicately beside the paper, she injected sternness into her voice and added, "But no longer."

Zuko smiled. "Of course."

oOo

* * *

 **February**

"Don't you dare even _think_ of throwing that snowball at me or I'll see to it that you'll be quite sorry!" Katara warned as Zuko encroached on her, tossing the item in question up and down in his hand menacingly.

Zuko didn't falter in his approach. "You nailed me in the head just a moment ago. It's only fair that you be repaid in kind."

Katara turned her nose up in a show of rebelliousness. "I wasn't intending to hit you. I mistook your hair for a shaggy weasel is all. It was an honest mistake."

Zuko gave her an unimpressed look. "You'd been talking to me just a minute earlier."

Katara couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at Zuko's disgruntled expression. Apparently, Zuko didn't find her grin in line with her professed innocence, because faster than she could react, a ball of puffy powder pelted her right in the chest.

Katara gasped in outrage and used her mittened hands to wipe the snow from the front of her coat. "Oh, it is _on_ ," she called back to him, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Zuko just laughed and danced out of the way as she sent another snowball flying at him. Katara wasn't deterred, though. She would make good on her threat of punishment.

oOo

* * *

 **March**

Katara stopped in surprise when she heard voices from within Ember Steel Co.'s town office. Zuko hardly used the place so she didn't pay it any mind on most days, but today it seemed he was in.

Curious, she walked closer and tried to hear what was being said. As far as she was concerned, if it was business of Zuko's, it was business of hers.

Sure enough, one of the voices belonged to Zuko. It was difficult to hear what was being said but he sounded annoyed—even angry. The other voice belonged to a woman and it was one she didn't recognize.

"…know…going…be impressed," the unknown female was saying. Her voice lacked the edge of irritation that Zuko's held. She sounded calm and composed.

"He doesn't…anymore," Zuko shot back. "…paperwork…gone through. I'm…Ember out."

"That…Zuko!" This time the woman's voice sounded far less composed. "… …Mai? …you just…abandon...?"

There was a long moment of silence after that. Katara wondered what they were arguing about. She'd never heard Zuko sound angry before. Who on earth could he be talking to?

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and Katara had to dodge out of the way as a woman came storming out of the office. She wore an expensive-looking velvet gown of deep burgundy and her makeup was immaculate. Her eyes caught Katara's own as she descended the wooden steps and Katara could see that they were a rich honey-amber. The woman looked her over briefly then sniffed disdainfully and brushed past her without a word.

A moment later, Zuko appeared in the doorway in his typical cotton shirt and heavy work-trousers. His eyes followed the woman as she disappeared down the street and Katara saw him sigh tiredly and raise a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He must have been very distracted by whatever it was he and the woman had been arguing about because he didn't even notice her standing there. He just grumbled something under his breath and went back inside, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

oO0Oo

* * *

To be continued in Day Twenty-Nine.

That's right, babes, this one's is a three-parter. The only three-parter in the collection, and it's an AU. What is the world coming to? In my defense, AUs take more time to build than canon-verse stories.


	16. Love During War

Continuation of Day 13!

* * *

 **Day Sixteen**

Love During War

* * *

Katara sighed audibly and pushed her hands up into her hair in frustration. This just wasn't working. Every plot idea she'd come up with so far was too silly for her readers to suspend disbelief. Maybe Suki was right. Writing romance was proving to be much harder than she'd thought.

A few feet away, Zuko took his eyes off Aang and Toph's earthball match to check in on her. "Still having trouble?"

Katara pushed the lap table she'd been using as a writing desk away from her so that she could stretch her legs. Today, she'd opted to take her writing outside, hoping the sunshine would help her find inspiration for her story. The former Team Avatar had all gathered in the garden for some outdoor fun and to all their delight even Zuko had managed to pull himself away from work to join them. He and Katara had opted to relax in the shade while their friends played by the pond.

"Yes," she admitted, her shoulders sagging. "No matter what I try, it always sounds dumb."

Zuko turned his face to the sky and hummed thoughtfully. After a moment, he said, "Well, maybe that's because your ideas are too niche? Taking your roommates idea for example, not many people will have had any experience with going to university. Why don't you try picking a premise that you know will resonate with a lot of people?"

Katara cocked an eyebrow at him. "Such as?"

Zuko averted his gaze from the sky to look at her. "I dunno. War?"

Katara considered this. It actually wasn't a bad idea. "Love during war," she muttered, her brain working on the idea. "It could work. Sort of like the story of Oma and Shu."

Zuko's brow crinkled in confusion. "Who?"

"Never mind," she brushed off his question with a wave of her hand. "I like the idea. Let's go with that."

Her decision made, she pulled the table back over her lap and picked up her brush.

oOo

* * *

Katara bit her lip nervously as Zuko read over what she'd written so far. She fiddled with her brush and occasionally glanced in his direction to get a glimpse of his reaction. Zuko was a fairly expressive reader and she watched his brow furrow at some lines and his eyes widen at others. She thought she could guess which parts he was at by his expression.

When he finally finished, he handed the draft back to her. Katara was quite pleased when he smiled and said, "It's actually really good. I like the tension. It was an interesting idea to put Kuzon and Kama on opposite sides of the war."

Katara grinned and inwardly did a little victory dance at receiving Zuko's approval. "You think so?"

He nodded. "You really get a sense of Kuzon's urgency and his need to prove himself to his captain. And Kama is a much more interesting protagonist than Su Yun. I really liked the part when she stood up to her grandfather for the right to leave her home. Not to mention her and Kuzon's instant animosity makes a lot more sense than Li Dao and Su Yun's did." He paused then, and when he spoke again, he said, "But I'm curious to know how Kuzon and Kama are going to work out their differences. I mean, you've made it clear that the attraction is there, but there's an awful lot of bad blood between them."

Katara blushed lightly at Zuko's question. She couldn't very well tell him that she planned to do it exactly the way Zuko had redeemed himself in the eyes of Team Avatar. That would mean admitting that he was the inspiration for Kuzon. "Well, Kuzon will have to realize what a bad guy his captain actually is and that'll cause him to have a change of heart. He'll decide he'd rather help Kama end the war."

Zuko raised his good eyebrow. "And I suppose Kama's luscious, kissable lips and firm bosoms will have something to do with this decision?"

Katara's blush deepened. "It _is_ a romance scroll," she defended.

"Right," Zuko dragged out the word. "Carry on."

oOo

* * *

Sometime later, Katara had written a few more pages and Zuko was once again reading silently.

That silence was broken when Zuko abruptly looked up from the page he was on and said, "I'm Kuzon, aren't I?"

Katara started at Zuko's sudden statement. She turned to look at him guiltily. Curses. He'd figured it out. "Um…no?"

Zuko gave her a skeptical look and pointed to a line on the page. "Hello. Kuzon here," he read aloud slowly and deliberately. "I'm good now and I was thinking I should join your group." He stopped and looked at her blandly.

Katara smiled sheepishly. "I don't know what you're referring to."

Zuko didn't look at all like he was buying what she was selling. Raising a hand, he began ticking points off on his fingers. "Let's see. He sails around on a ship, he has an evil sister, he betrayed the Fire Nation to help end the war…"

"Pretty sure those are all just coincidences."

"…Right." Zuko handed her draft back to her.

Katara placed the draft back on her lap table and picked up her brush again to keep working.

Rather than going back to watching Toph and Aang's match, this time Zuko kept his attention on her. "So, what's going to happen now? Kuzon is already part of Kama's resistance but Kama's still seeing the resistance's leader. She's going to have to have a change of heart at some point, right? The romantic tension between her and Kuzon is so strong that I'm amazed she hasn't left the leader yet."

Katara nodded as she penned the next line on her paper. "Well, obviously that's because she's waiting for Kuzon to make the first move. She's not unhappy with Amokk, after all. She isn't going to leave him just because Kuzon _might_ like her."

Zuko's brow screwed up in confusion. " _Might_ like her? He definitely likes her. He wouldn't have run in front of his captain's fire blast for her if he didn't like her."

Katara stopped writing to raise a brow at him. "You don't think he did that just because he likes her as a person?"

Zuko frowned and crossed his arms. "Well…maybe. But people don't usually do something so impulsive and dangerous for someone unless that person is really important to them."

Katara's eyes widened a touch. Just what was Zuko implying? Her eyes flicked briefly downward to looked at his abdomen where Azula's lightning scar was hidden beneath his royal robes. When her eyes returned from their wandering she found Zuko looking at her.

She felt heat creep up her cheeks again. He wasn't alluding to what she thought he was alluding to, was he? Hesitantly, she said, "Alright. If you're certain Kuzon likes Kama so much, then how do you think the situation should be resolved?"

Zuko tilted his head but his eyes didn't leave hers. It appeared he didn't need to think long about the question because after only a short pause he answered, "Well, first, Kama needs to decide for herself what's most important to her. Kuzon thinks she's happy with Amokk. He isn't going to intrude on that."

Katara's eyebrows shot up high and then furrowed in confusion. She shook her head to demonstrate her puzzlement. "But she's given him plenty of signals that she's interested in him."

Zuko didn't look convinced. "Sure, she's given him signals, but you made Kuzon dumb as a doormat when it comes to picking up on them."

Katara recoiled briefly in offense before leaning deliberately forward and quirking an eyebrow at him. "Maybe that's because he _is_ dumb as a doormat."

If the eyes are windows to the soul, Katara could see Zuko's thought-processes grind to a halt through his pale gold irises. "…What?"

She rolled her eyes and straightened so that she was in line with her writing surface again. "Forget it." She picked up her abandoned brush again and dipped it into the pot of ink beside her draft. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Kuzon's got a future girlfriend to woo. Perhaps his initiative will inspire one of my readers to take the plunge and tell a girl he might like about his feelings."

Though she made a show of fixing her attention on her story, out of the corner of her eye, she watched Zuko frown. He was still looking at her and the downward curve of his mouth suggested that he was thinking very hard about something. _Good_ , she thought with some satisfaction. Surely even Zuko wasn't dumb enough to miss a signal that strong.

The earthball was in his court. What he chose to do with it was up to him.

oOo

* * *

"Wow, Katara. I'll admit I'm impressed."

Katara's chest swelled with pride. She'd done it. She'd written a story good enough for Suki. Sure, it had perhaps been an eency bit more difficult than she'd originally thought, but she'd still proven to Suki that even someone with just about zero writing experience like her could write a romance scroll worth reading.

She placed her hands on her hips and gave Suki a smug grin. "Thank you. Now, I believe you owe me some Red Lion almond cakes."

To her confusion, Suki's expression turned apologetic. The Kyoshi captain reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. Katara wasn't at all prepared when she said, "Sorry, Katara. It was a pretty good story, but I'm afraid the Red Lion is already sold out of cakes for the week."

Katara stared at her. When it became clear that Suki wasn't joking, her whole posture deflated. "You're kidding."

Suki retracted her hand and shook her head. "Nope. Apparently some high profile customer came in and bought out their whole supply. I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait."

Katara groaned and took a few steps backward to slump into one of the library's cushioned chairs. This couldn't be happening. She was slated to return to the South Pole at the end of the week. If the teashop wasn't going to have any more cakes, then she wasn't going to get to try one until her next visit to the Fire Nation.

"Don't worry. I'll pick up some of those lava candies you like instead. I know it's not the same, but I still owe you _something_ for writing a whole romance scroll."

Katara didn't even look up as Suki walked out of the library. She didn't think she'd ever felt so disappointed.

She still didn't look up when the library door opened again and familiar footsteps approached the place where she was sitting. She was too full of misery and woe to entertain any company right at that moment.

Despite her conviction to shut out her visitor, she was forced to acknowledge him when a box was set on the small table beside her chair. Curious, she looked first at the box and then at the person who'd brought it. Zuko looked back at her with an expression that was difficult to read. It was almost impassive.

"What's this?" she asked, returning her attention to the box sitting innocuously beside her.

Zuko's expression didn't change. He simply pointed at the box and said, "Initiative." Then he turned on his heel and walked away.

Katara's eyebrows rose up her forehead in confusion. Her curiosity rising, she picked the box up off the table and placed it in her lap. Using both hands, she untied the decorative cord, broke the fancy wax seal, and lifted the lid off the box.

What she found inside caused her jaw to drop in surprise. There, sitting in two neat rows, were six immaculately shaped, perfectly golden almond cakes.

Katara could do nothing to stop the squeal of absolute delight that burst out of her at having the long-coveted cakes in her grasp at last. Not wasting any time, she dipped a hand into the box to liberate one of the scrumptious confections. That was when her eye caught a small rectangular piece of paper fastened to the side of the box. Her curiosity returning, she plucked the paper from its place and turned it over in her hand. On the back was a single line written in Zuko's tidy scrawl.

 _Join me for dinner?_

Katara's eyes widened. So, this was what he'd meant by initiative. At once, a grin split her face.

The earthball was back in her court, it seemed.

oO0Oo

* * *

El fin.

Whew! I had to scramble to finish this before the start of the tumblr blackout. If the ending seemed rushed, that's why. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!


	17. Moonlight

Only 90s kids—I mean people who have read The Confrontational Approach will get this. (Please be aware of potty mouth.)

* * *

 **Day Seventeen**

Moonlight

(A TCA intermission by Yue)

* * *

Yue sighed in exasperation as she watched the Avatar's group settle in for their evening meal at the Western Air Temple. Katara and the scarred firebender—Zuko—were fighting again.

That's all they'd been doing for the past week. Fight, fight, fight. Bicker, bicker, bicker.

Well, that's what Katara had been doing, anyhow. Zuko simply seemed perplexed and a little wary of her.

 _There they go again,_ she thought as Zuko approached the irate waterbender with his usual offer of help. Just as Yue expected, he was promptly snubbed and sent away.

Yue had never held much love for Zuko—he'd attacked her and Katara in the Spirit Oasis, after all—but even she felt pity for the guy after watching his head get repeatedly bit off by Katara. He _was_ trying to turn over a new leaf and his persistence was admirable. He was also highly easy on the eyes, a fact which Yue was pretty sure was actively working against him at the moment. Katara had a history with bad-news pretty boys.

But the biggest reason watching them butt heads all the time was so exhausting was because Yue knew what they didn't: that Katara had a big, fat, badger-mole-sized crush on Zuko.

And Zuko returned it.

 _Just pork already!_ she yelled down at them whenever they got like this. Oh, but they were infuriating. _Bang, boink, shag! Just fucking_ _ **do it**_ _._

Alas, her voice couldn't be heard. That was the problem with being the literal fucking moon.

o0o

* * *

" _You have done the spirits a great service, Katara. Because of you, the wheels of fate have begun to turn once again._ "

Yue gave Katara's hands a light squeeze and then pulled away. Her time was up. She had to go.

"Yue, wait!" the young waterbender cried after her. Katara's brow was scrunched in confusion and her blue eyes shone with distress.

Yue imagined Katara had many questions, but unfortunately she didn't have the time nor the permission of the spirits to answer them. " _You have the chance to achieve a glorious destiny,"_ the told the girl, giving her an encouraging smile. _"Don't let it get away._ "

She felt her body begin to dissolve and knew that her connection to the earthly realm would terminate in a matter of seconds. She had one last thing to say though before he disappeared. _"And Katara,"_ she beseeched, her voice growing faint in her own ears. She brought up a ghostly hand and used her pointer finger and thumb to make a hollow circle. Making certain Katara was watching, she lifted her other hand, extended her pointer finger, and jammed it forcefully into the circle. _"We all know you and Zuko like each other so hurry up and smash that son of a bi—!"_

She faded away before she could finish.

Bummer.

oO0Oo

* * *

I really have nothing to say about this one. I think it speaks for itself.


	18. Diplomatic Solution

I am SO sorry for posting this one late. It grew way too large for me to finish yesterday. But I think this one was worth the wait. I suspect a lot of you will really enjoy today's story. That being said, I wrote it in like two days so it's VERY rough around the edges. The pacing is terrible, the flow is choppy, and the dialogue is awkward. If you're looking for something polished, look elsewhere, my dudes. We die like men, today.

* * *

 **Day Eighteen**

Diplomatic Solution

* * *

" _Sokka, get this thing off me right now. I'm not kidding around."_

Katara gave her brother a look blacker than night. She was not impressed. Not in the least. Rather, she was furious.

Sokka withstood her look of murder and shook his head. "Nope. We had a talk and we all agreed that this was the best, most diplomatic solution to your problem with Zuko."

Beside him, Aang nodded seriously. "Sorry, Katara, but we couldn't think of any other way to make both of you happy. You want to make sure that Zuko doesn't try anything funny and he," he pointed at Zuko who was standing silently beside her, "wants an opportunity to earn your trust, which he can't do if you're just going to stalk away whenever he tries to talk to you. This is really the only way to give you both what you want."

It took all of Katara's willpower not to snarl at Aang. She knew he was just doing what he thought was best, but this plan of theirs was absolutely bonkers. Not to mention the worst thing that could ever happen to her. Controlling her rage as best she could, she said hotly, "You think this will make either of us happy?" She lifted her wrist, which was encased in a hard leather cuff attached to a length of sturdy cord and waved it demonstratively. "Tying us together with a bison tether?"

At this point, Zuko, who had been standing by unsurely while she argued with her brother and Aang, finally deigned to speak up. He didn't look any happier than her to be essentially cuffed together. "There has to be a better way. You can't seriously expect us to live like this."

Sokka crossed his arms and shook his head. "The tether's long enough to give you an ample range of motions. And we've already agreed to remove it for Aang's lessons."

"But…!" Katara protested, taking a step forward. "But what about sleeping? What about using the bathroom? What about bathing?"

Beside her, Zuko nodded vehemently.

Aang shifted his weight to one side and scratched his head. "Can't one of you just stand outside the door while the other uses the toilet? It doesn't seem like much of a problem to me."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah. And we can move Zuko's bed to your room to solve the sleeping problem."

Katara bristled in outrage. "You want me to sleep with him?!" she shrieked. "Absolutely not! I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing!"

Sokka waved a hand dismissively. "Sleep in the same room with him. Not _with_ him."

This differentiation did nothing to sooth Katara's ire and she let her brother know this by reiterating her refusal to be in any way a part of this horrid, terrible plan. "No way! I won't do it. This is madness!"

"Listen, Katara," Aang said in his sage voice. "You just have to stand it until you and Zuko learn to get along. After that, we'll take the cuffs off and you two can go back to your separate lives." He tilted his head then and offered the two of them a grin. "Think of it as a team building exercise."

If Aang thought that would make her feel better about the situation, he was sadly mistaken. However, it was becoming clear to her and he and Sokka were going to stick to their guns on this one. The only way she was going to get out of this was by doing as they asked. They'd left her no choice in the matter.

Exhaling a rough sigh, Katara turned her steely gaze on Zuko. To his credit, he met her gaze without flinching. "Fine," she said without inflection. "I'll learn to get along with you." She turned back to Aang and her brother then and her eyes narrowed angrily. "But let me be clear about one thing. Zuko and I will _never_ be friends."

Her bit said, Katara turned on her heel and marched off down the corridor toward the common area. Unable to do anything else with their wrists tethered together, Zuko followed.

* * *

 **Day One**

 **Morning**

Katara tried not to flush in embarrassment as she and Zuko walked into the common area. The moment they entered, all eyes turned on them. Haru, Teo, and The Duke stared at them with wide eyes and she saw them whisper to each other too softly to hear. Suki smiled apologetically at her from the cooking pot where she and Chit Sang were just finishing up breakfast. Nearby, Toph had her head turned in their direction and Katara could see a wide grin growing on her face. She had no doubt Toph would give her no end of hell for this. The last person she looked at was her father, and when she turned her gaze to him she found him wearing a bemused expression. He was looking between her and Zuko with a single raised eyebrow but he said nothing. Katara didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed by this.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the happy couple," Toph was the first to vocally acknowledge their entrance. "You guys seem closer already."

Katara shot the small earthbender a heated glare which was wasted on her.

"Sorry, Katara," Suki apologized as Katara joined her by the pot. "I knew you wouldn't be happy, but we all agreed that something needed to be done. Hopefully this will help the two of you come to an understanding."

Katara said nothing to the short-haired warrior. She simply nudged her aside and took over scooping the morning's porridge into bowls. She needed to feel like she was in control of _something_.

Zuko wisely remained as far out of dodge as he could, opting to sit beside Chit Sang while she worked. Normally, he would offer to help, but even he could sense that today was not a good day to press her buttons.

 **Noon**

"Alright, you two! Bonding exercise number one starts now. I won't stop even if you cry!"

Katara shot a glance at Zuko as he took a ready stance as far from her as the tether would allow. Across from them, Toph had collected a pile of rubble which she'd explained she was going to throw at them until they, in her own words, 'made nice'. Katara wasn't sure how exactly having rocks thrown at her was supposed to change her feelings for Zuko, but Toph had made it clear that this was happening whether she liked it or not.

"Here it comes!"

Katara had no more time to question Toph's plan because suddenly bits of temple were being hurled at her with enthusiastic abandon. Katara yelped as a chunk of stone shattered near her feet and she was forced to jump out of the way when another came hurtling right at her chest. She managed to dodge the lumpy projectile, but her movement caused the tether to strain and she heard a cry of surprise as Zuko was tugged along with her.

The rocks continued to sail at them and both Katara and Zuko struggled to fight them off with the tether yanking them this way and that. Several times, Katara was nearly pulled into the path of an oncoming rock because Zuko was attempting to dodge the other way. Getting fed up, she growled at him and yanked her arm hard, causing him to stumble and nearly get hit. Zuko righted himself and scowled back at her. "What was that for?"

"That was for pulling on me!" she shot back.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't pull on you if you didn't insist on being as far away from me as possible!"

Katara bristled. "Me? _You're_ the one staying away from me!"

"Only because you'll bite my head off if I come any closer!"

" _Children!"_ Toph called over top of them. "Quit squabbling and get dodging! Momo and Appa could do a better job than you two are right now. Jeez, are you guys allies or aren't you?"

At Toph's admonishment, Zuko snapped his mouth shut and Katara saw his jaw square into a look of resolution. Exhaling a sigh, he moved in closer until the cord fell slack against the floor.

Toph nodded in approval. "That's better. Now try again."

This time when Toph's rocks came flying at them, Zuko made a conscious effort to match her movements. When Katara dodged left, Zuko did the same. When she used her water to swat a rock away, Zuko stayed close so as to not limit her range of motion. This simple adjustment did wonders to make the trial more palatable. After a few minutes of this, Katara begrudgingly decided that if Zuko was willing to put aside his pride to work together with her, it was only fair that she do the same. She began mirroring his motions as well and soon they fell into a something of a rhythm.

Now that they weren't fighting just to dodge the attacks, they were able to move onto the offense, slowly gaining ground with each leap, dodge, and strike until they were within range to counterattack. When they breached the five foot mark, however, Toph abruptly stopped. She dropped her arms, allowing gravity to pull the rocks back down to the floor. "That's enough for today," she announced without preamble. "Good work, you two."

Katara and Zuko relaxed out of their fighting stances and shared a confused look.

"That's it?" Zuko asked uncertainly.

Toph placed her arms behind her head and shifted her weight onto one hip. "What? The goal was to get you guys to work together. You did. If you want me to keep throwing rocks at you, I'm totally willing to, but I figured you guys would have, like, other plans for your day."

Katara hurriedly shook her head. "No, you're right. Zuko and I have _tons_ of plans."

"Yeah. Tons," Zuko agreed without needing to be prompted. Clearly he didn't relish the idea of dodging rocks all day any more than she did.

Toph smirked. "That's what I thought." With that, she walked away, leaving Katara and Zuko to their own devices.

 **Afternoon**

Katara peeked over the top of her book to see what Zuko was doing. She hoped to find him up to something nefarious but he was just reading a crusty old scroll with a bored expression.

Disappointed, she went back to her own reading. The book she'd found was a bound collection of old Air Nomad pie recipes. It wasn't the most riveting read, but it was sort of fun to learn about Air Nomad cooking. She'd already found several recipes she'd like to try if she could get her hands on the ingredients.

After a few more minutes of perusal, she again looked up at Zuko. Surely by now he was doing something dastardly.

He hadn't moved. He was still reading quietly, his expression betraying no hint of any evil plotting. Katara's eyes narrowed in frustration.

Without warning, Zuko's eyes flicked up from his scroll to look at her and his expression turned to one of annoyance. "Would you stop scowling at me? That's the sixth time in the past ten minutes."

Katara felt her cheeks heat at being called out. Covering up her embarrassment with bluster, she said, "I'm just checking to make sure you're not up to anything."

Zuko gave her an incredulous look. "We're in a _library_. What am I going to do in here? Plagiarize?"

Katara humphed petulantly and returned to her recipe book. After a drawn-out moment, she said, "I wouldn't put it past you."

Zuko just rolled his eyes.

 **Evening**

Katara stared hard at the second bed that had been placed in her room just a couple feet away from her own as if she could somehow will it out of existence.

This was really happening. She and Zuko would be sharing a room from tonight on.

Putting on her most furious face, she whirled around and gave Zuko the coldest of murder glares. "If you even _think_ of—"

"I'm not going to do anything," Zuko declared in a flat voice before she could even get her warning out. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared her levelly in the eye, challenging her to try accusing him of anything untoward.

Katara shut her mouth and merely glowered back. She hated to give Zuko credit for anything, but of all the evil things he'd done, it was true that he'd never struck her as a sleaze. She supposed everyone at had least _one_ redeeming quality. She gave him a warning glare anyhow before marching across the room—pulling Zuko along with her—to her bed. There, she pulled off her boots one by one and unwrapped the sarashi from her arms. That was as far as she'd go in unclothing for the night. No way was she taking off any more in the presence of her most hated enemy. Not that she could take off her tunic with the tether in the way, regardless.

Now as prepped for bed as she was going to be, she settled under her covers and promptly faced the wall, determined to become unconscious as quickly as possible. If there was no option but to share a room with Zuko, then she might as well go to sleep so that she didn't have to look at him.

Through the movements of the tether, she felt Zuko make his own preparations for sleep. She heard him place his own boots on the floor followed by the rustling of blankets as he slipped into bed. She felt the tether pull as he attempted to face the opposite side of the room and she joined him in sighing in resignation when it proved to be just a little too short. Great, now he would be staring at her back all night. That was just what she needed; the cherry to top this sundae of misery.

Eventually, even with the knowledge that Zuko was most likely watching her, she did fall asleep. It was a restless, wary sleep, but it was better than nothing.

* * *

 **Day Two**

 **Morning**

"So, how'd our Siamese twins sleep last night?"

Katara dropped her chin and slowly turned from the cooking pot to level a forest-withering glare at the far too peppy earthbender. Toph wore a shit-eating grin larger than Aang's arrow and though Katara was sure Toph could sense exactly how unimpressed she was by the gibe, she didn't seem bothered by it.

"Whew! Someone's in a foul mood this morning," the small bender said joyfully.

Katara couldn't deny it. Last night had been hell. She'd been tugged nearly off her bed in the middle of the night when Zuko had rolled over in his sleep, and when she'd tried to wake him to make him turn back over, she'd startled him into sitting up abruptly, causing their heads to bash together. After that, they'd spent twenty minutes arguing over whose fault it was, followed by another twenty in which they glared at each other across the gap between their beds. This only ended when Katara's exhaustion finally got the better of her and she passed out.

"What about you, spice lord? No comment?"

Zuko sat as far from Katara as the tether would allow him, holding his head in his hand. Katara had to admit that he looked just as bad as she did, though she would never say it aloud.

"No."

Toph just shrugged at his clipped answer and then turned to call back the rest of the group gathered. "I think it's working."

 **Noon**

"Alright. Team building exercise number two!" Aang announced to the gloomy pair standing sullenly beside each other across from him by the temple's fountain. He wore a large, optimistic smile which he turned back and forth between them as if showering them in his good cheer would cause them to catch it.

"Please don't say it's more training," Katara said, deadpan. She was way too tired to deal with dodging rocks today.

"It is!" Aang declared brightly. "Positivity training. I want the two of you to sit across from each other and you'll take turns listing the other's good points."

Katara couldn't stop her eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. "What?" She looked at Zuko then and her brow furrowed. "But he doesn't have any good points."

Zuko promptly crinkled his nose in offense.

"Sure he does," Aang stated before they could start an argument. "Come on Katara, you're a master at seeing the good in people. This exercise should be easy for you."

Katara frowned. She wanted to continue to protest, but instead she pursed her lips. She couldn't let Aang down. "…Fine."

Doing as instructed, she and Zuko settled onto the stone ground across from each other. Zuko stared directly into her eyes, unblinking, and Katara did the same. What followed was a drawn out staring contest both were determined to win.

The contest was ended by Aang who stepped in between them and levelled both of them with a disapproving expression. "Come on, guys. You're acting like kids. The two of you are never going to resolve your differences if you don't try."

Katara's cheeks heated in shame at being called a child by Aang. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes and cleared her throat. "You're right. We should be fully capable of handling ourselves like mature young adults." She opened her eyes and met Zuko's gaze, challenging him to prove her wrong.

"That's the spirit," Aang said, his good mood returning. "Then why don't you start, Katara? What's one good thing about Zuko?"

 _Curses,_ she swore in her head. Aang wasn't supposed to pick her first. Her mouth thinned into a line as she attempted to think of even one good thing about the teenager sitting across from her. Zuko watched her patiently, his golden eyes looking right into hers. She watched his eyebrow slant just slightly in a look that said, _I'm waiting_.

Katara's own eyebrows twitched in response. Oh, how she hated him. "I guess if I had to pick one good thing about Zuko…" she started, wishing she could swallow her own tongue, "it's that even if he's an underhanded, backstabbing scoundrel, he's terrible at lying."

Aang scrunched his brow in disappointment. "That's the best you can do? Come on, Katara."

"What?" she protested. "It's a compliment. I'm saying that if nothing else, he's honest."

Zuko didn't look any more impressed than Aang. "…Thanks?"

Aang sighed. "Alright, Zuko. Your turn," he said, choosing not to fight any further.

Katara fought a grin. She was all prepared to turn Zuko's smug look from before back on him, but to her surprise he answered right away. "Your bending," he said simply. "You're really good."

To say she was blindsided was an understatement. Katara blinked, then she blinked again. When she'd gathered her wits, she tentatively asked, "…Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah." Looking suddenly bashful, he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head and added, "I…like fighting with you."

For the second time, Katara felt heat rise in her cheeks, but this time it wasn't from shame. "Oh. Um, thanks." To think Zuko actually thought she was a worthy opponent. He'd always lorded his skill over her in the past.

Aang smiled brightly. "That was perfect, Zuko. You're really getting this." Turning back to Katara, he said, "Okay, your turn again."

Somewhat subdued by Zuko's actually nice comment, Katara sucked up her pride and gave the task some proper consideration. After all, what would it say about her to be out-niced by _Zuko_? She'd never be able to live with herself. After a moment, she said, "I suppose you're pretty good about helping out. I mean, when Toph first joined us, it was like pulling teeth to get her to do anything, but you make us tea and you always offer to help. That's pretty cool, I guess."

Katara had to fight not to feel just the smallest bit charmed when a tiny, pleased smile appeared on Zuko's face. It struck her in that moment that Zuko actually had a rather nice smile—on the rare occasions he chose to wear one.

Aang beamed. "That was way better! See? I knew you could do it."

Now it was Zuko's turn again, and this time he took some time to think about what he wanted to say. Katara could see his brain working behind his eyes. After a moment, he said, "You have a lot of compassion." He looked down at his lap and Katara saw his cheeks dust pink. "You offered to heal my uncle once, and…I'm sorry I yelled at you for that. You also offered to use your spirit water on me…before." He peeked up at her a little uncertainly. "I was really surprised. And touched."

Once again, Katara felt warmth rise within her. Normally, she'd get angry at Zuko for reminding her of his betrayal, but he sounded so genuine just now that the anger flickered out as soon as it appeared.

"Wait, you were going to use your water on—"

"You were? Really?" she asked overtop Aang.

At Zuko's nod, Katara scooted a little closer and furrowed her brow seriously. "Then, why did you attack Aang? If you hadn't joined Azula, we would've beat her and I could've healed you."

Zuko's expression turned uncomfortable and he turned his face away to look at the fountain. "I don't know."

Katara's frown deepened and she leaned forward. "What do you mean, you don't know? If you don't know, then how I can be sure you won't do it again?"

Zuko whipped his face back to look at her. "Because I won't," he said insistently.

Katara shook her head. "That's not good enough, Zuko."

Zuko opened his mouth to retort but he was stopped by Aang who stepped between them and held his hands out for silence. "I think that's enough for today, guys. I don't want this to turn into an argument. You've both said a few good things so let's just leave it here."

At Aang's request, Zuko shut his mouth. He looked like he wanted to defend himself still but he curbed the urge. Katara also wanted to keep pressing him, but she knew Aang was right. They were just going to argue if they kept going. Reluctantly, she nodded and said, "Fine. We'll continue this another time."

Aang smiled, clearly pleased by their cooperation, and stepped back so that he wasn't standing between them anymore. Clapping his hands together, he said, "Great! Then this team-building exercise is finished. Good job today."

Katara and Zuko both nodded and stood. Katara snuck a glance at Zuko that for once was devoid of overt hostility and Zuko did the same. They had an odd moment of sort-of connection in which they simply looked at each other, then they broke it at the same time and followed Aang back to the common area. It was time for Aang's firebending lesson.

 **Evening**

Katara hummed as she stirred the night's stew. She was in an oddly good mood after Zuko and Aang's bending lesson. Perhaps it was because she'd been able to use her temporary freedom to have a nice bath. She felt refreshed and positive. Even being bound to Zuko again wasn't bringing her down.

Zuko also seemed a little less prickly than usual. She had him chopping onions, a task he'd set to gladly, seemingly happy to have finally been given a chore. Suddenly, Katara found herself wondering why she'd been so against putting him to work before. Not liking him didn't mean she couldn't extract some labor out of him.

Perhaps their positive moods were sensed by the others, because tonight everyone was gathered round the cooking pot. Chit Sang and The Duke were having a discussion about flame newts while Sokka, Teo, and Haru argued about the details of some mechanical contraption Sokka wanted Teo to make. Her dad and Suki were listening to Toph and Aang talk about earthbending practice while Suki finished chopping potatoes for the stew. All in all, it was a much nicer atmosphere than that morning.

Katara's pleasant mood persisted through dinner, though it soured a bit when it came time to retire for the night. Once again, she sighed bitterly as she and Zuko entered her room. It was going to be another long, restless night.

"Alright," she announced, turning around to address her unwilling roommate. "Tonight, we're just going to suck it up and face each other. That way, if one of us turns over, the other won't be pulled out of bed." She gave Zuko a pointed look to make it clear that by 'one of us' she really meant him.

Zuko looked like he wanted to fight her—restart their argument from last night—but he held his retort inside and nodded.

Agreement made, the two benders made their night preparations and crawled into their respective beds. Facing Zuko brought back memories of the previous night when they'd glared themselves to sleep. Looking back on their behavior, Katara felt just the slightest bit foolish. She still stood by her argument, though. Last night's head-bashing fiasco had definitely been his fault.

Five minutes later, it appeared that neither of them had found sleep. They just continued to watch each other impassively. Finally, Zuko broke the long silence. "This is weird."

"Yeah, this is weird," Katara agreed without hesitation. "One of us should turn over."

Zuko nodded. "Then I'll do it. I'm the one who turned in my sleep last night. This way, if I do it again, it won't affect you."

Katara nodded her agreement. Seemed like sound logic to her.

Without another word, Zuko flipped onto his other side, leaving her to stare at his back. Without the pressure of his eyes on her, she was at last able to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

The last thought she had as dreams took her was that Zuko actually had quite a nice back.

 **Midnight**

Katara was abruptly startled awake by a yelp from the bed next to hers. Groggily, she blinked the sleep from her eyes as her brain tried to figure out what was going on.

"Katara!" she heard Zuko hiss in the dark. "Katara! Wake up!"

Becoming more alert at the sound of her attachment's voice, she looked behind her to find Zuko with his arm stretched over the side of the bed, his whole shoulder dangling over the edge of the mattress. Only then did she realize that she'd shifted in her sleep to hug the wall. Quickly, she pushed off the wall and rolled back over, much to Zuko's relief.

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. Well, now she just felt silly. She'd given him such a hard time about moving in his sleep and now she'd gone and done the same thing.

The two of them settled back into their original positions and Katara was glad when Zuko chose not to lord her sleep-rolling over her, though she imagined he felt pretty smug right about now.

It took a little longer for sleep to take her this time. She watched Zuko's silhouette in the dark and thought about the lengths he'd gone to not to engage her during this whole dumb plan. He was really doing his best to play nice with her and she was beginning to feel a little bad about her behavior up till now. As she waited for sleep to claim her once more, she made a promise to herself not to be so short with him tomorrow.

* * *

 **Day Three**

 **Morning**

The next morning, Zuko had another lesson with Aang, leaving Katara free to do some laundry before breakfast. As she washed everyone's clothes in the fountain, Suki helped her by pinning the wet garments up on a makeshift clothesline. Katara could've easily used her bending to dry the clothes in a snap, but Suki was insistent on the clothesline, saying everyone liked putting on fresh, sun-warmed clothes.

"So," the Kyoshi captain spoke as she hung up a pair of Sokka's socks. "It's day three now. How're things going with Zuko?"

Katara hummed absently. "Fine, I guess. He hasn't tried to betray anyone yet, though that may just be because he's attached to me nearly 24/7."

Suki looked back at her over her shoulder and raised a brow. "You still think he's going to?"

Katara shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know what goes on inside his head."

"You spend just about every moment attached to him. I'd think you'd know him better than anyone by now."

Katara just shrugged again and continued her washing. She didn't have an answer for Suki. It's not like being attached by a cord meant she could read Zuko's mind. All she had to go on was past experience, and her past experience with Zuko was betrayal.

"Well," Suki said after a time. "I'll give you my opinion, for what it's worth."

Katara actually paused her scrubbing to look back at Suki. "Oh? And what's that?"

"I think Zuko's a bit rough around the edges, but after seeing him encourage Sokka at the Boiling Rock, I know he's a nice guy deep down."

Katara took a moment to think about this. She too had once suspected Zuko of being good at his core. It was why she'd offered to heal him in Ba Sing Se. For all the times Zuko had tried to capture Aang, he'd never tried to seriously hurt them the way his sister had. Even at the south pole, he'd honored his agreement to spare her village in return for Aang. She'd never got the sense that he wished harm on anyone. Katara had thought, just like Suki, that deep down, he wasn't so bad. But then he'd betrayed them in Ba Sing Se and sent an assassin after Aang and that image of him, as someone who was maybe not so different than they were, had shattered into a million little pieces. Those acts had proved that somewhere in his mind, he'd been able to justify killing a child.

Anyone who could make that decision once was capable of making it again.

"Yeah," Katara said, offering Suki a wry smile. "I thought so too, back in Ba Sing Se." Her expression darkened then and she added, "But even if there is good inside him, there's darkness, too. The problem is that I can't tell which is stronger."

Suki was quiet for a time. Her lips pulled into a frown and she seemed to be thinking long and hard about the matter. Katara was about to go back to her washing when the Kyoshi captain finally spoke again. "I wasn't there when you guys fought Zuko in Ba Sing Se, so maybe I'm not the best judge, but I was there when Azula attacked him at the Boiling Rock. I watched them fight, and I can tell you that there was no love lost between them that day." She turned her back on the laundry line then and placed her hands on her hips. "If you're worried that those two are still secretly allied, then don't be. At the very least, I can tell you that's not the case."

Katara watched the other girl for a moment, taking in her self-assured posture and knowing look. Her resolve faltered somewhat under Suki's display of absolute certainty. If Zuko really wasn't allied with Azula like she said, then that did lend credibility to his claim that he'd left the Fire Nation. Azula had been the deciding factor in his decision in Ba Sing Se. She'd been the one to convince him to return to the Fire Nation. If he wasn't running with her anymore, then maybe he really was on their side.

She wasn't ready to throw aside her suspicion just yet, but it was something to think about. "I'll make a note of it," she said at last before turning back around and resuming her washing.

 **Noon**

To Katara's dismay, Sokka was the one to designate himself as their team-building instructor for day three. She watched her brother with an air of unease as he paced back and forth in front of them, looking them up and down in an appraising fashion.

"Alright, what strange activity are we going to do today?" she asked dispassionately, hoping just to get on with it. Zuko seemed to agree. He was wearing a look that said he'd rather be anywhere else.

At once, Sokka stopped his pacing and his face lit up in a smile. "I'm glad you asked," he announced, lifting a finger skyward. "Because I've just decided on the perfect bonding activity for today."

Tonelessly, Zuko asked, "And that would be…?"

Sokka clasped his hands in front of him and rubbed them together excitedly. "Well, your first exercise was about learning to tolerate each other and the second was about getting to know each other, so today's activity is going to target the main issue that still exists between you two. Trust."

"Trust?" Katara echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Just what kind of activity do you expect is going to make us trust each other?"

"The ultimate team-building activity," Sokka answered, spreading his arms grandly. "Trust falls."

If her brother was hoping his proclamation would be met with enthusiasm, he was very much mistaken. The moment the words were out of his mouth, Katara groaned. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Trust falls? Really?" Zuko echoed her sentiment.

"Hey," Sokka defended, dropping his arms. "Don't knock trust falls. They may sound lame, but they're highly effective. Today, I want you guys to practice putting your faith in each other the way you would in a real-life battle." Looking specifically at Katara, he said, "This activity is particularly important for you. You need to learn to rely on Zuko as a comrade. If you can't do that, our effectiveness as a team will suffer."

Katara crinkled her nose in offense. Why was everyone always turning this on her? Zuko was the troublemaker. Their team wouldn't have any problems at all if he hadn't come along. She wanted to protest—explain to Sokka that Zuko catching her in a bonding exercise didn't mean anything in the real world—but she reminded herself that if she didn't cooperate, she'd never get this stupid cuff off her wrist. It didn't matter if she hated it. She just had to do it.

"Alright, fine. Let's just get this over with," she relented, crossing her arms petulantly.

Sokka nodded, pleased by her cooperativeness. "Alright. Katara, you stand here—" he grabbed her shoulders and maneuvered her a few feet away from Zuko "—and Zuko, you stand just behind her. Yes, like that. Okay, whenever you're ready, Katara, you can go ahead and fall back. Zuko will catch you."

Katara turned her upper body to shoot Zuko a look. "You'd better catch me," she warned.

Zuko spread his arms demonstratively, showing that he didn't plan to go anywhere. "I will."

Katara nodded and turned back to the front. She counted down from three in her head— _three, two, one…_

She turned around again. "I'm serious. You better not let me fall."

Sokka made an impatient noise. "Would you just do it, Katara?"

Katara shot her brother a withering look as she faced her body forward again. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then counted down from three again in her head. When she reached zero, she swore to whatever spirit might be listening that if Zuko let her fall he would see retribution on a divine level, then she closed her eyes and allowed her body to tip backward.

For a moment, all she felt was the sensation of falling. Her brain panicked and sent signals to her body to switch into emergency recovery mode. She was all ready to curse Zuko and his whole line for generations to come, but then Zuko's hands appeared on her arms and her weight was settling safely against his front. Relief washed over her. He hadn't let her fall.

The second feeling to strike her, after relief, was the all-around oddness of being touched by Zuko. She'd expected his grasp to be rough and awkward, but in actuality she found herself being held quite considerately. His grip on her arms were gentle and he'd caught her in such a way as to absorb the impact rather than jolting her. All in all, it was a surprisingly not-unpleasant experience.

"There," Sokka said approvingly. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Zuko helped steady her back on her feet and Katara shot her brother a look. "Are we done now?"

To her annoyance, he shook his head. "Not yet. I'm going to have you do three more just like that, then you two'll switch. After that—"

Both Katara and Zuko groaned. So much for getting this over with.

 **Evening**

Katara sighed wearily as she sank onto her bed. That afternoon, Aang and Toph had talked her and Zuko into engaging in a four-way bending battle as a way to spice up Aang's training and while it had been an enriching experience, their audience had voted for her and Zuko to fight cuffed. This was ostensibly to give them another opportunity to bond, but Katara knew it had really just been for the others' entertainment.

The fight had been hard, but she and Zuko had done surprisingly well. After two and a half days bound at the wrist, the two of them had adapted to the tether and it hindered them far less than they'd feared it would. They hadn't won, but they'd put up a damn good fight and that was an achievement in and of itself.

Now, though, Katara was well and truly exhausted and her wrist ached from being accidentally yanked a few too many times throughout the battle. By the looks of him, Zuko was feeling similarly. It was a testament to how tired and sore the two of them were that neither made a fuss about their sleeping arrangements that night. Zuko simply followed her lead, flopping onto his own bed, and the two of them lay in silence for several moments as they unwound from their busy day.

Tentatively, Katara flexed her wrist to assess the damage and she winced when it twinged painfully. It wasn't anything she wouldn't recover from, but it was definitely uncomfortable. She fought not to sigh at the prospect of another night of potentially being tugged around in her sleep.

"Does it hurt?" Zuko's voice interrupted her thoughts, startling her.

Katara grimaced and nodded. "Definitely been better."

Zuko inhaled deeply and sighed. "Me too."

They lapsed into something of a charged silence following this short exchange and Katara bit her lip, wondering if she should swallow her pride and make the suggestion her body was beseeching her to make. She'd nearly given in and was two seconds away from opening her mouth when Zuko spoke again.

"Hey, Katara?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we just push the beds together?"

Katara thought her whole soul would erupt in relief. Zuko had gone and said it, saving her from having to do it herself. "Yes. Immediately,"

As if they were a single entity, the two teenagers climbed out of their beds and Katara joined Zuko at the side of his. Together, they set their hands against the heavy frame and pushed, stone legs grinding against the stone floor, until the two beds were joined. Their task accomplished, Katara crawled across Zuko's mattress back to her own bed and Zuko followed behind her, settling back into his previous position. The two sighed in relief as the tether lay slack between them. Katara didn't even care that she was effectively sharing a bed with Zuko. She'd spent enough time in close proximity to him earlier today doing trust falls that his nearness didn't bother her. Rather, the only thought on her mind was that maybe now she'd finally get a decent night's sleep.

Before she even knew it, her eyelids drooped and that wish became a reality.

 **Day Four**

 **Morning**

Katara awoke early the next morning feeling refreshed and invigorated. The combination of an early night and absolute exhaustion had caused her to sleep like a log. Apparently Zuko was the same because she found him still slumbering soundly beside her. Usually, he would wake long before her and be forced to wait around until she roused sometime later, but today she was the first one up. He must have been even more tired than he'd let on.

It was a little strange seeing Zuko sleep. His face was relaxed and he breathed softly through his nose. He looked innocent and kidlike with his hair splayed on the pillow and his chest slowly rising and falling. He was completely vulnerable right now—she could do anything she wanted and he wouldn't be able to stop her. It made her feel powerful. Superior, even.

These thoughts caused her eyes to widen. Normally, the situation was the other way around. That meant that every other morning, she had been at Zuko's mercy. He could have done anything—tied her up, hurt her, even killed her if he'd wanted to—but he hadn't. On some level, she'd known this all along. It's not like she had no survival instincts. But it was a different thing to see just how defenseless her potential enemy was with her own eyes. It really hit home that if Zuko truly intended to harm her, he could have done it at any time. It would've been the easiest thing in the world to take her out in her sleep, burn the tether, and go after Aang.

The fact that he hadn't really only supported one conclusion:

Maybe... just _maybe_ he really was being sincere about switching sides.

Katara bit her lip in deliberation. Did she dare allow herself to believe that? Could she afford to take that risk?

 _Spirits, Katara, you're sleeping with the guy. You're already well past this point and you know it._

Katara exhaled a defeated sigh. She supposed there was no point in asking herself these questions now. Whether she liked it or not, the fact that Zuko was here right now, sleeping beside her just like Sokka or Aang might, meant that on some level she had already begun to trust him.

Tui and La, she was such a pushover. Zuko's good behavior could all be part of some nefarious plot and she was walking right into it. He might be playing with her just like Jet had. But, another part of her reasoned, she didn't think Zuko had it in him to behave like Jet. He lacked Jet's overflowing charisma and honeyed tongue that could make anyone rally to his cause.

If Zuko _was_ being genuine, then maybe she _should_ allow him to have a second chance. She'd given Jet another chance and he'd shown her he could change. If Jet could change, then it stood to reason that Zuko could, too.

Katara's thoughts were interrupted when beside her Zuko inhaled a deep breath and his eyes blinked open. He looked disoriented for a short moment but then his eyes found her and she saw him shake off the dregs of sleep.

"Morning," she greeted far more amicably than usual.

Slowly, Zuko pushed himself upward into a sitting position. "You're awake," he said with some surprise.

She nodded and a sly grin stretched across her face. "Sure am. Funny, because I thought firebenders rise with the sun. Weren't you the one who said that?"

Zuko yawned and then levelled her with a flat look. "Well, aren't waterbenders supposed to run on moon power? You conked out awfully early last night."

 _Touché._

"Please don't use phrases like 'conk out'. It doesn't fit your image."

Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion. "My image?" He crossed his arms and his gaze moved somewhere across the room. To himself more than her, he muttered, "I have an image?"

Katara ignored him in favor of getting out of bed. She shoved him none-too-gently forward so that she crawl past him to the edge of the bed and then slipped off to his protest of, "Hey!"

"Come on, Zuko," she called back to him as she picked up her blue sarashi and began winding them around her forearms. "Let's get moving. Who knows what's in store for us today."

 **Breakfast**

The denizens of the air temple were roughly halfway through breakfast when Sokka nodded to Aang and the two of them stood up. All eyes turned on the duo curiously. Apparently, they had an announcement.

Sokka took the initiative, clearing his throat to draw the room's attention to him. "So, Aang and I were talking earlier," he started, gesturing to Aang with his hand, "and we've been pretty impressed by Katara and Zuko's cooperation these past few days. We think maybe it's time to try removing the tether."

A murmur rose up among the people gathered and Katara looked at her brother and Aang in shock. He was going to uncuff them? Really? She turned to look at Zuko and the two of them wore identical looks of surprise.

"What do you guys think?" Aang directed this question at the benders in question. "Do you both feel like an understanding has been reached?"

Katara blinked, unsure how to answer. Of course she wanted the tether off, but was she ready to openly absolve Zuko of all suspicion?

Zuko appeared to be at an impasse as well. She could see him deliberating in his head.

"Well?" Aang prompted when neither of them said anything.

Finally, Katara came to a decision. Aang and Sokka were giving them the choice to be free. To go back to their separate lives. She couldn't pass that up. "I guess…I could give Zuko another chance."

Zuko's good eyebrow rose in surprise. "Really?" he asked hopefully.

Katara turned back to him and nodded once. "One chance. That's all you're getting."

Zuko's face promptly broke into the most joyous smile Katara had ever seen him wear.

"Great!" Aang announced, clapping his hands together. "That's all I wanted to hear."

Katara flushed in embarrassment as her friends—and family—all burst into applause as if she and Zuko had just won an Earth Rumble tournament. They continued to clap as Sokka and Aang untied the elaborate knots holding their cuffs in place and only stopped when the tether fell to the floor with a soft _thunk_. Katara and Zuko looked at each other as they rubbed their newly free wrists. It was over. They had their freedom at last.

 **Noon**

To celebrate being a free woman again, Katara cooked up a big, elaborate meal for lunch. She pulled out all the stops, making a big pot of veggie soup for Aang and enlisting Zuko and Chit Sang's help to prepare roasted rabbit-pheasants—courtesy of her dad's hunting—for the rest of the group. The Duke and Toph picked fruits and berries from one of the temple's many overgrown gardens and Suki used the spare pot to cook up some Earth Kingdom sweet rice for dessert.

The meal was consumed with gusto and by the time they finished afternoon had rolled around. Nobody really felt like training after such a huge lunch, so the group decided instead to play some games at Aang's suggestion. The whole afternoon was then spent fooling around and forgetting there was a war going on as members from all four nations raced and competed in Aang's so-called 'gauntlet of fun'.

After so many days being chained to another person, freedom was far sweeter than Katara ever could have appreciated beforehand. If she wanted to walk across the room to grab a meat skewer, she could do so without having to discussing it with anyone first. When she wanted to use the bathroom, she could just go and not worry about pulling Zuko away from whatever he was doing. She could spin in a circle and touch her toes and talk to anyone she wanted to talk to without Zuko hovering nearby.

And yet, the majority of the afternoon was spent at Zuko's side. Perhaps they'd just grown used to always standing within a certain proximity of each other, but even when they tried to go off and do things separately, they always seemed to gravitate back to one another. Whenever this happened the two of them would share a bemused look. It was as if in their minds, the tether still bound them.

 **Evening**

After eating a very light dinner, the inhabitants of the temple finally decided to split up to do their own things. Sokka and Suki went off to have some private couple time while Toph dragged Aang off for some after-dinner earthbending practice. Chit Sang, Haru, Teo, The Duke, and her father also disappeared to engage in their own activities, leaving Katara and Zuko alone in the common area. With no other ideas, they decided to head over to the fountain so that Katara could get a little bending practice in. She'd been slacking in her own training regimen since they'd arrived at the temple and now that she was free there was nothing to stop her but her own laziness.

While they walked, they chatted about their plans for the next day and brainstormed some ways to implement waterbending into Aang's other training exercises so that his skills didn't stagnate. This was something Katara worried about since Aang very rarely practiced waterbending these days.

Eventually, the conversation ran dry and the two were left with nothing to talk about but the elephant-whale in the room.

She looked down at her wrist, now bare, and then to Zuko's swinging lightly at his side as he walked. She should be happy that the tether was gone—and she was, really—but a part of her still hadn't properly come to terms with the change. It felt…not right somehow.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Zuko said what she was thinking.

Katara blushed at having been caught staring and nodded. "Yeah. I guess we were connected by that stupid thing for so long that now our brains don't know what do to without it, huh?"

Zuko hummed in his throat and she watched his hand clench and unclench slowly. The two of them walked in silence for a minute, both thinking about the odd trial they'd undergone at the insistence of their friends.

Unable to help herself, Katara again found her gaze being drawn to the space between them. It felt so open; so empty. The thing that had connected them was no longer there in its place was a hole that needed filling.

Zuko must have thought so, too, because without preamble, he held his hand out to her, palm up in invitation. Surprised and a little confused, Katara's eyes traveled from his hand up to his face and she found him watching her expectantly. Would she take the invitation or leave it? It was up to her.

Tentatively, Katara reached out and grasped his hand. At once, the feeling of emptiness fled. Zuko smiled and curled his fingers around hers.

A feeling of warmth filled Katara, and in that moment she realized that even if the tether was gone, the bond it had created between them persisted.

Mirroring Zuko's smile, the two enemies turned unlikely friends continued their trek to the fountain.

oO0Oo

* * *

Welp. I didn't think it would happen, but we've officially got our new longest story in the collection. It's funny because this was yet another prompt that I nearly didn't write for. Somehow those ones always turn out the longest. Huh.

Again, I'm really sorry for the roughness of this one. I don't think I've ever busted out a story of this length so quickly. I was trying as hard as I could to get it out on its designated day and I'm still a little scuffed that I didn't make it. Now my schedule is off and that's going to screw with the next few stories. Obviously, Day 19's isn't going to be posted today and it probably won't be posted tomorrow either because all my free time is going to be spent getting my car serviced. The end of December is always a difficult time due to the holidays so I can't say I didn't anticipate this.

Anyhoo, I'll be trying my best to get the rest of the prompts filled as quickly as I possibly can. I really want to finish by the end of December because I know I'll lose motivation if this bleeds into January. My muse is dumb like that. Wish me luck!


	19. Dragons

This one is dumb and nonsensical and just here for the lulz. Please don't think too hard about it.

* * *

 **Day Nineteen**

Dragons

* * *

It was an accident. It was a single, teeny-tiny, barely-noticeable mistake. It was the sort of trivial miscalculation that was so seemingly innocuous that the great spirit Barnaby could be forgiven for not catching it. After all, it was nothing that affected him nor anyone who resided on his plane of existence. It was the sort of minor error that happened daily to the best of spirits; the kind that was so utterly inconsequential that it normally wouldn't even be worth the small amount of energy it took to fix were it discovered.

The problem is, you see, that screw-ups made by the divine have a nasty habit of manifesting in the human world as divine screw-ups. And when the Fire Lord suddenly and inexplicably popped out of existence and was replaced by a two-ton, fire-breathing dragon in the middle of giving a speech at the annual peace summit in Ba Sing Se, there was, quite honestly, no more fitting description.

This, of course, caused no small amount of panic. After all, the last time a dragon had been seen by anyone was at least thirty years ago, and to have one suddenly spewing fire and carrying on inside the Earth Palace was not the sort of thing any reasonable person would generally be equipped to handle. This, unfortunately, included the Avatar and his friends.

Now, as we all know, dragons are famously interested in only two things: treasure being one.

The other being princesses.

So it was that when the dragon-fied Fire Lord swept over the crowd on leathery wings, snatched up the daughter of Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe, and promptly flew straight through King Kuei's favorite decorative window, nobody could fault him for it. Katara was the closest thing present to a princess, after all. And the window was very shiny.

What follows is a series of snippets showing the events that transpired between Fire Lord Zuko absconding with Katara of the Southern Water Tribe and the Avatar journeying to the spirit world to fix this dragon-sized debacle.

oOo

* * *

"Really, Zuko? A cave? You could've picked anywhere to be your lair—the Fire Palace, an air temple, a tropical island, a laundromat—but instead you picked a stupid cave. You know I'm going to freeze in here. I'm not dressed for spelunking."

Zuko snorted and tucked his nose into his wing. He was, apparently, entirely unconcerned by her complaints.

Katara was about to be very offended. She opened her mouth and prepared a finger for some very stern wagging, but she was abruptly knocked off her feet when Zuko's tail snaked around her from behind and pulled her against his warm body. Katara's lecture died on her tongue. "I guess that works," she grumbled. Jabbing a finger into his side, she added, "But don't think this suffices as a long-term solution. If you're going to keep me here, you at least need to get me some bedding."

Zuko made no motion to reply, He merely closed his eyes and began to breath evenly and slowly.

oOo

* * *

"Why'd you kidnap _me_ , anyway?" Katara asked as she drew little doodles in the earth outside the cave with a stick. "I mean, not that I don't enjoy hanging out with you, but I'd think your animal instincts would drive you to more familiar behavior, such as trying to capture the Avatar. You know, I bet Aang would even think that was cool."

Zuko's canine lips parted, showing off a row of long, wicked-looking teeth and he tossed his head. His bright gold eyes rose to the ceiling briefly before falling back down to look at her.

Katara stopped sketching and placed her hands on her hips. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?"

Zuko snuffled his great nose and managed to look noncommittal despite his severely limited facial mobility.

Katara's eyes narrowed. "Just how much man and how much beast am I talking to right now? You seem to understand me, which means you're intelligent. But are you actually aware of what's going on right now? Do you know what happened to you?"

Zuko just stared down at her with large, catlike eyes.

Katara frowned back at him. "You'd better not be playing dumb. This is a huge mess, you realize. We can't go on living in this cave forever. I mean, you've got a country to run and I've got… Well, I've got stuff. I guess."

Zuko's nostrils flared and he exhaled a puff of steam that engulfed Katara in a muggy cloud.

Katara crinkled up her face and swatted the cloud away. "Stop that! You're going to make my hair frizzy."

oOo

* * *

"Zuko!"

A poke.

"Zuko!"

A jab.

"Zuko! Wake up!"

This time, Katara smacked his scaly neck, hoping it would be enough to rouse the slumbering dragon. Her effort was rewarded when one of Zuko's large eyes opened slowly and he gave her an annoyed look.

"Thank goodness you're awake. I need to use the bathroom and you're blocking the exit."

Zuko looked like he wanted nothing more than to drop back into dreamland, but he hefted his heavy serpentine body off the floor and slithered out of the way so that she could reach the cave mouth.

Katara thanked him with a pat. "Jeez, why couldn't you have turned into something more manageable? Like a cat? Or a hamsterkeet?"

Zuko snuffed and lowered his head back to the floor, shutting his eyes again.

Katara left her friend behind to step out into the chilly woods. She shivered and rubbed her upper arms, feeling gooseflesh under her palms. It was dark still, but she could tell by the pale halo on the surrounding mountains that dawn was approaching.

She took care of her business quickly and hurried back to the cave, determined to get some more shut-eye before the sun rose and turned Zuko on. Night was the only time she ever got any peace. As long as the sun was out, Zuko was an unstoppable force of dragon energy. He hunted, he terrorized the local wildlife by dive-bombing them from the sky, he tromped around scraping off tree bark with his enormous claws, and La help her whenever she chose to go to the river for a bath. He loved water and he would dive in and out of the river, tossing water this way and that while she attempted to wash her hair. He was so unlike his normal, human self that sometime Katara wondered if the beast really was Zuko or if Zuko had been sent somewhere else and this dragon had been deposited in his place.

But Katara knew that wasn't the case. Though his facial scar was missing, likely due to the fact that dragon skin was impervious to fire, his lightning scar was still very much present, as she'd seen when he'd rolled onto his back to scratch his shoulders.

So, then, where was her Zuko? Was his personality still there, but buried under layers of dragon instincts? Did he even know who she was, or had he kidnapped her completely by coincidence?

She wished he could talk. That would make all this much easier. She also wished she had some window to the outside world. She could only imagine the chaos the Fire Nation was facing with their ruler up and vanished. By now, the story of what had happened at the summit in Ba Sing Se would've spread and everyone no doubt knew about the Fire Lord turning into a dragon and absconding with her. Katara was sure the rumor mill was having a field day.

There had already been plenty of rumors about her and Zuko to begin with. This would do absolutely nothing to help that.

As she reached the cave, she decided that when Zuko woke up she was going to have a chat with him about going back to check on the world situation. At the very least, they needed to reassure their friends that they were okay.

oOo

* * *

It turned out they didn't need to do any reassuring after all because the next day, Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Suki showed up at their cave.

Katara had been attempting to convince Zuko to throw out a sapling he'd ripped out of the ground and was gnawing on as if it were some kind of chew toy when they arrived. He was shaking leaves all over the cave and she was not at all relishing the idea of having to clean up after him. It was as she was in the midst of wagging her finger at him and giving him a talking to in her most stern tone that Appa descended from the sky and landed a few feet away with a groan of greeting.

"Katara! Zuko! There you are!"

Katara turned around in surprise. "Aang?" she greeted the young, bald monk, shocked to see him there. Her gaze moved past him to the others who were in the process of jumping down from Appa's saddle. "How did you guys find us all the way out here?"

"We followed reports of dragon sightings to find the general area and then we used Appa to search from the sky until we spotted you," Sokka answered, coming up beside Aang. He smiled widely then and enveloped Katara is a hug. "I'm glad to see you're alright. We were really worried."

Behind her, Zuko snuffed and lashed his tail, apparently offended by the insinuation that she'd been in any danger.

The movement caused the group's attention to turn to him and Katara watched her friends study Zuko with interest and wariness. The weight of their scrutiny caused him to extend his neck to its full height and shake his fluffy head at them like a peeved rabbiroo.

"So, that's Zuko?" Suki asked disbelievingly.

"Gained a few pounds, that's for sure," Toph remarked from the side of the group.

Aang frowned and approached Zuko with his hand out. Zuko watched him warily but didn't do anything to stop his advance. When Aang placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder blade, Zuko made a short, thoughtful rumbling noise deep in his throat. He seemed to decide Aang wasn't a threat because he lowered his head, relaxing out of his defensive stance.

"Do you know how this happened, Aang?" Katara asked, joining the young monk at Zuko's side. "If we don't figure out how to return him to normal, the Fire Nation's going to have a real crisis on their hands."

Aang shook his head. "I don't know. I've never heard of a person changing into an animal." He squinted up at Zuko and crossed his arms.

Sokka stepped forward then, scratching his chin as he appeared to inspect Zuko up, down, left and right. "Doesn't this whole thing sort of reek of spirit world shenanigans?" he postulated. "I mean, the only times I've ever seen one thing turn into another thing were when the spirits were involved. You know, like Yue turning into the moon and you turning into Koizilla."

Aang nodded. "You have a point. Humans can't just transform all on their own."

"Well, why don't you go ask you friends in the spirit world?" Toph suggested, raising her hands palm-up. "Even if they don't know what happened, they might know of a way to fix it."

Again, Aang nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like the best course of action. I'll go right away."

"Well, then," Sokka said, turning back around to look at the group. "I guess we'd better get comfortable. This could take a while."

oOo

* * *

While Aang meditated outside the cave, the rest of the group sat in a circle and thought about what they were going to do if Aang couldn't find the answer he was looking for.

"I mean, I guess he _could_ still lead the Fire Nation," Sokka posited. "There aren't any laws saying a dragon can't be Fire Lord, right?"

"And just how exactly is he supposed to govern when all he wants to do is scrape up trees and eat squirrelmunks?" Toph argued. "Not to mention it's difficult to give orders when you can't talk."

"Well, what do you want to do? Hand the throne over to Azula?"

The whole group cringed visibly. That was definitely not an option.

Zuko, who had been lying quietly with his head on the ground beside Katara, suddenly came alive and opened his mouth, displaying his rows of daggerlike teeth. He coiled his neck back and his throat moved, producing an odd growling rumble. They watched his lips and tongue move in a way that looked very unnatural on his canine face and he cycled through a collection of sounds, none of which anyone in the group could extrapolate any meaning from.

"Is he…trying to speak?" Sokka wondered aloud, his eyebrows shooting up nearly to his hairline.

In response to his question, Zuko gnashed his teeth in frustration and wagged his head up and down violently.

That was a sign all of them could understand.

Sokka's mouth dropped open in shock and he scrambled to his feet to lunge comically over to Zuko. He grabbed Zuko's great snout and leaned forward to look him in the eyes. "Whoa! Zuko! Are you in there, buddy?"

Zuko made an annoyed barking sound and tossed his head to shake Sokka off. His tail rose off the ground and lashed the side of the cave, leaving a mark on the stone.

Katara rose to her feet as well and placed a hand on his neck, causing him to still. He craned his neck around to look at her and she could read frustration in his large, gold eyes. He made a noise that sounded almost like a whine and one of his feet scraped at the ground, creating five parallel lines in the dirt. "Zuko?" she questioned tentatively. "Is that really you in there?"

Zuko tossed his head again and a jittering growl rose out of his throat. Katara's brows furrowed in confusion and she looked beseechingly back at her friends. "What does that mean? Was that a yes or a no?"

Suki shrugged helplessly and Toph raised a hand to her chin. "I don't know if it was either. It sounds like he's fighting his dragon instincts. It's like he wants to communicate with us but he can't."

Katara turned back around to look at Zuko. Was that true? Was his personality in conflict with the dragon's? That sounded awful.

Zuko made another whining sound and dropped his head back onto the floor.

"Well, it seems like he wasn't too pleased by Sokka's suggestion to let Azula take over," she submitted. "I guess if he feels strongly enough about something his human self can override his dragon side?"

Toph snorted and turned to look vaguely in the direction of Zuko's shoulder. "Sorry, Zuko, but I don't think brief flashes of personality are going to be enough to run your country. You could always consider becoming Katara's pet, though."

Zuko crumpled his snout up and snapped his jaws at her. Katara as well levelled Toph with an unimpressed glower. " _Toph_ …"

"Listen guys," Sokka spoke again, walking into the center of the circle. "We don't even need to be having this discussion because Zuko _is_ going to turn back to normal. Aang will figure this out and we'll have the old Zuko back in no time. So let's stop trying to turn him into a pet and instead think about how we're going to explain this whole mess after Zuko gets re-humanfied."

oOo

* * *

"Well, guys, I have some good news and some bad news."

The members of Team Avatar exchanged wary glances. _This can't be good_ , was the thought on all their minds.

"Why don't you tell us the good news first?" Katara suggested, raising a hand imploringly.

Aang nodded and the straight line of his mouth curved upward into a smile. "Okay. The good news is that Zuko can definitely be turned back."

A sigh of relief rose up through the group at Aang's announcement and Katara's face broke into a pleased smile. "That's great!"

Sokka nodded his agreement. "So, then, what's the bad news?"

At once, Aang's smile faltered. "Um, yeah. The bad news is that I don't know how to do it."

A period of silence followed this statement as the group looked at Aang uncomprehendingly.

"What do you mean you don't know how to do it?" Toph asked the burning question. "Didn't the spirits tell you?"

Aang smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Well, the spirit I talked to said that the solution was super obvious and not worth his time to explain. Then he shooed me away."

Sokka slapped his forehead with his palm. "Shooed you away? You didn't try asking again?"

Aang held his hands up helplessly. "I couldn't! He shooed me right out of the spirit world."

Katara exchanged a baffled look with Suki. Spirits could do that?

The next one to speak was Suki. She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight onto one foot before saying, "Well, he said the solution was obvious, so maybe it's something we can work out for ourselves."

Upon Suki's suggestion, Aang and Katara adopted contemplative expressions while Toph and Sokka looked immediately at a loss. "Like what? Ask him?" Toph asked, brandishing her arms. Stepping up to Zuko who was pawing the ground impatiently, she shouted, "Turn back into a human!"

Zuko snorted and flicked his tail but remained quite clearly a dragon.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Katara asked her, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What? The spirit said it was obvious. That seemed like the most obvious solution to me."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed. "What else are we supposed to try? A kiss from prince charming?" He puckered his lips and made obnoxious kissing noises.

The suggestion was obviously meant as a joke, but Suki's eyes widened and she clapped her hands together. "Wait! Maybe that's it!"

Sokka turned around to eye her skeptically. "Suki, it was a joke."

Suki shook her head. "No, it's a valid suggestion," she argued. "Think about all the fairy tales where a cursed prince or princess is cured by a kiss." She turned to point at Zuko. "Zuko's not technically a prince anymore, but he's still cursed royalty. Maybe he needs the kiss of a princess to turn him back into a human."

The group looked around at each other as they considered this. Suki did make a fair point.

"But I thought it was supposed to be true love's kiss," Aang disputed. "Won't it not work if the person who kisses him isn't in love with him?"

Toph waved a hand dismissively. "Love schmove. Most of the kisses in those stories are from people who literally just met each other. I'm pretty sure just being a princess will be enough."

Aang didn't look convinced. "I dunno… I still think it's supposed to be true love."

Sokka called the group's attention to himself by clearing his throat. "Why don't we just try having Katara kiss him. She's the most princess-like thing around here. If it doesn't work, we'll go find Mai or something."

Katara made a face at her brother, unappreciative of being called a thing. Still, she couldn't argue that the three nations were a little short on princesses at the moment. They certainly weren't about to go and fetch _Azula_.

"But—"

Aang started to protest, but he was cut off by Katara. "Fine." She uncrossed her arms and marched over to Zuko. Giving him an unimpressed look, she said, "I'm subjecting myself to dragon slobber for you. I hope you appreciate that."

"Hey, are you sure you don't want to maybe think this over for a moment? Maybe there's another—"

Katara once again ignored Aang and beckoned Zuko to lower his head with a finger. Zuko did as instructed and when his head was within reach she leaned in and pressed her lips to the tip of his snout.

There was a moment where nothing happened. Katara was about to pull away when there was an audible _pop!_ and suddenly the mouth pressed to hers was very much more human than it had been a moment ago.

Startled by the noise and the change, Katara took a step back, breaking the contact. A gasp rose up from their onlookers and Katara's eyes widened in surprise.

There, standing in front of her as if he'd always been there, was Zuko, back in his proper form and looking just as surprised as they were.

Save for one very noticeable change.

Zuko blinked in astonishment and then lowered his chin to look down at himself. "Oh, thank the spirits, I'm clothed," he pronounced with a great deal of relief.

Objectively, it was an odd choice for a first sentence following being de-dragonfied, but none of Team Avatar were of the right mind to give it a second thought because they were very much focused on something of far greater interest.

"Zuko…" Katara started, lifting a finger to point at him. "Your face…"

Zuko blinked again and gave her an uncomprehending look. Confused, he raised his hands to his face and touched it with his fingertips. "What? What's wrong with—" He stopped abruptly when the fingers of his left hand ran over the left side of his face. Katara watched him prod the area first in confusion then shock. "My scar," he uttered disbelievingly.

"It's gone," Sokka finished for him, sounding just as amazed.

Sure enough, Zuko's left eye, which had previously been warped by angry scar tissue, was now whole and completely unmarked. He also sported two matching eyebrows and a wholly formed left ear. He moved his two good eyes around to look at each member of Team Avatar one by one and Katara noted that he didn't have to turn his head to see Toph, who was standing in his periphery. As the reality of the change registered, Zuko's lips turned upward into a smile and then stretched all the way into a grin. "It's gone," he echoed Sokka, excitement lacing his tone. "It's gone!" He laughed out loud and touched the locale again in joyous wonder.

Katara found herself grinning as well. "Zuko, that's wonderful."

Zuko removed his hand from him face and turned his pleased expression on her. Without warning, he took a step forward and grabbed her waist with both hands, lifting her high into the air and spinning her around elatedly. Katara made a noise of surprise upon being removed from the ground but laughed when she saw Zuko's happy face grinning up at her. He set her down after two spins and grabbed her in a tight hug.

"It must be because of the transformation," Suki posited when he let her go.

"Yeah, speaking of which," Sokka chimed back in, "Zuko, you were just a full-sized, fire-breathing dragon. You do know that, right?"

Zuko turned from Katara to look at them. His happy smile faded into a more serious expression. "Yeah, sort of." He crossed his arms and his eyebrows pinched together. "It's kind of hazy, but I'm aware that happened."

"And are you aware that you kidnapped Katara and have been hiding in this cave for the past few days?" Aang asked, pointing to the cavemouth at Zuko's back.

Zuko turned around to look at the cave and Katara saw a confused look appear on his face. "I did?"

"Yeah, you definitely did," Sokka confirmed. "The whole world's in a panic about that, by the way."

Zuko's cheeks colored slightly and he shot Katara an apologetic look. "Oh. Uh, sorry."

Katara shook her head. "Don't mention it. Really."

"Well, then," Suki said, her tone portending a topic shift. "Now that Zuko's back to normal—er, mostly—I think it's about time we get him back to Ba Sing Se so we can explain what happened to the Earth King before things get any more out of control."

Zuko nodded vigorously. "Yes. That's a great idea. Let's go immediately."

Spurred into action by Suki's statement, the group left the cave behind and made for Appa. They had a dragon-ton of damage control to do.

As the members of Team Avatar clambered up into Appa's saddle, Aang hung back, an uncomfortable look on his face. To himself, he muttered, "Wait, that worked because Katara's royalty, right? It wasn't true love."

"Aang, get over here!" Toph shouted from Appa's saddle. "Bison's leaving!"

Aang shook his head and jogged over to Appa.

No, surely not. Katara and Zuko? In love? Psssh. Not in a million years.

oO0Oo

* * *

lol, Aang. I always give him such a hard time.

I really hope you enjoyed this cracky story. Once again, I'm really sorry for posting late. I've got a million and one things going on due to the holidays and it's much harder now to find time to write. The next few stories are going to have to be extremely short so that I can catch back up. I'll try to make them somewhat amusing so that they don't feel like a _complete_ waste.


	20. Meeting the Family

Got another one for you! Very short today but I think it'll go over well.

* * *

 **Day Twenty**

Meeting the Family

* * *

"So, anyway, this is Katara."

"Yes. We've met."

Azula's amber eyes bore into Katara's own like a sabretooth moose-lion staring down a pygmy puma. Katara, to her credit, just stared right back. She wouldn't allow herself to be intimidated by a girl she'd beaten in a fight. "Hello, Azula," the blue-eyed waterbender said, attempting to be civil. Not that she expected Azula to do the same.

Sure enough, when Azula spoke again, it was to Zuko. Apparently, she believed addressing Katara herself would muddy her. "So, Zuko. Decided you like younger girls? Mai too old and stuffy for you? Or is it her low status that turns you on? You always did like playing in the dirt."

Zuko did a fantastic job of not allowing himself to be riled by his sister. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't insinuate things about my friends," he told her, giving her a no-nonsense look. "Anyway, I came here today to tell you that I'm going to look for mom." He placed a hand on Katara's shoulder and added, "Katara's going to help."

Katara nodded, still watching Azula levelly.

Azula's brow furrowed briefly before smoothing back out. Whatever she felt upon hearing Zuko's announcement she didn't feel like letting on to them. "Taking her to meet mommy, eh? Are you sure that's a good idea? Do you expect mother will be happy to hear that her darling son is screwing a water tribe peasant?"

This time, Zuko's careful control cracked. He took a step forward to roughly grasp the bars of Azula's cell. "If you think mom is the kind of person who would spurn a person just because of race or status then you didn't know her at all." Taking a calming breath, he released the bars and stepped back to once again stand beside Katara. "We'll be leaving now. I just thought you should know."

Zuko beckoned to Katara and the two of them turned to go. They had a long trip ahead of them.

Just as they made to step through the heavy steel doorway leading back into the palace proper, Azula spoke again. "She isn't the saint you think she is," she warned, her tone suddenly hard.

Zuko didn't stop, nor did he turn around. Whatever image flaws he may have about his mother would be reconciled when they found her. For now, he would believe in the mother from his memories.

His mood lightened when he felt Katara grasp his hand reassuringly. "I'm sure your mom will accept you no matter what kind of person you've become."

Zuko offered her a small, grateful smile and squeezed her hand. "Yeah. I think so, too."

oO0Oo

* * *

Got some Azula action in this one. I figured meeting Azula would be more interesting than meeting Iroh or Hakoda. Dicks out for siblings!


	21. Assassin

Alright, so I should be posting Day 21: Costume Party today, but I'mma skip that one because I've already written a (crack) story about a costume party which can be found in my silly AtLA oneshot collection titled **This Time With Feeling**. It's pretty rad. I'd definitely go check it out if I were you. *winky face*

As for today's story, some of you may have seen it on tumblr already because I posted it there yesterday, but for those of you who haven't, all I'll say about it is maybe don't read it if you're sensitive. It's an _eency_ bit dark.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Two**

Assassin

* * *

Katara wasn't really surprised when Zuko's eyes shot open the moment the cool blade of her knife touched his neck. She'd anticipated it. Hoped for it.

It wouldn't have meant anything if he'd simply died quietly without ever knowing who was responsible.

What did surprise her, however, was when he looked up into her eyes and merely exhaled a quiet sigh. He didn't fight her, nor did he look scared. The only emotion she saw in those pale-yellow eyes was resignation.

"Hello, Zuko," she said in a quiet, calm voice.

A shaft of moonlight illuminated Zuko's face from the open window she'd entered through and brought into stark relief the whiteness of his skin and the black of his hair splayed around his face like a halo of shadow. He didn't speak for a long time, but Katara waited, and finally, in that familiar gravelly voice she remembered from her travels with Aang—from their conversation beneath Ba Sing Se—he said, "I knew this day would come sooner or later. But I didn't expect it to be you."

The corners of her lips turned up in a small, joyless smile. "You should've. Because of you, Aang, my brother, my father, and thousands of defenseless Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe people are dead."

Zuko just continued to watch her face without emotion. "I know."

Katara scowled down at him, her anger breaking through her façade of control. "You could've stopped it! You could have been the catalyst that turned the tide of the war, but instead you ran home to the Fire Nation and sold us out to dear old dad." She leaned in closer, her knife pressing more firmly against his flesh. "Tell me, Zuko. Was it worth it? Did trading all those lives buy you the happiness you wanted?"

Zuko's eyelids fell shut and he took a deep breath. His chest rose and fell with the motion. "No," he said at last, his voice barely above a whisper. "This was never what I wanted."

Katara's chin dropped and she took a deep, shuddering breath of her own. "This war took my mother from me," she repeated her words to him in the catacombs. "And now it's taken my brother and my father. I want them back, Zuko."

Zuko's eyes opened again and this time she saw a new emotion in them. She saw regret. "I can't bring them back, Katara."

The use of her name almost caused Katara to drop the knife. Zuko had never addressed her by name before and she'd never expected that he even knew it. But she held her weapon fast. Her conviction, at least, was strong. Steeling her determination, she asked, "You're not going to beg for your life?"

Zuko's answer was prompt. "No."

She'd expected as much. "Any last words?"

This time, Zuko was quiet for a while as he seemingly considered her question. Then he said, "If you see my uncle…tell him I'm sorry."

Katara nodded. That was reasonable enough. "Sure."

"And also," he added, his voice as soft as silk. He looked meaningfully into her eyes and Katara knew his next words were directed at her. "I regret the choice I made in Ba Sing Se. If I could go back to that moment…" his eyes closed again briefly and she saw pain in the wrinkle of his brow. Opening them one final time, he said, "I'd choose you."

Despite her resolve, Katara felt hot tear prickle at the backs of her eyes. "There are no do-overs, Zuko."

When Zuko said nothing, Katara knew any further conversation would be superfluous. Taking another deep breath, she said simply, "I'm going to do it now."

She thought Zuko might, when finally faced with the certainty of his own death, have a change of heart and attempt to defend himself, but he didn't. He didn't even close his eyes. He watched her steadily as she drew her knife across his throat in a single swift slice, and even as his lifeblood flowed out from the cut, he never removed his eyes from hers.

Katara wanted to close her own eyes to the sight of his life draining away onto his bedsheets but she didn't. She couldn't. She would face this act and carry it with her to her own grave, however many years in the future that turned out to be. The tears that had been waiting just behind her eyes overflowed but she didn't attempt to wipe them away. She refused to break eye-contact.

Zuko's body convulsed a few times as he tried to draw breath and couldn't, and then, finally the spark of life drained from his eyes and he fell still. The deed was done.

Shakily, Katara stood from the bed and she wasn't surprised when her knees buckled under her, sending her to the floor. She'd just taken a life. Her first one ever. The body of her old enemy lay on the bed at her back, a body that had been speaking and breathing merely a moment prior. She'd hated him—loathed him more fiercely than even the soldier who had killed her mother. She'd _had_ to kill him. But completing the act had brought her no peace. She'd known from the beginning that it wouldn't.

For the second time, she tried standing and this time her legs held her. Looking back one final time at the boy on the bed, she whispered, "I wish we could go back, too."

Her task finished, Katara returned to the window and disappeared as silently as she'd come.

oO0Oo

* * *

Hmm. Kind of makes you want the comparatively cheery plague fic back, doesn't it?


	22. Ba Sing Se

I'm skipping prompts again. Maybe I'll go back and do some of them later but probably not because the holidays have got me slammed.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Five**

Ba Sing Se

* * *

"Ba Sing Se sure is a big city."

Katara looked up from the scroll she'd been reading to look at Zuko who was sitting with his legs crossed on the cushy chair across the table from her in the Earth Palace library. "Yeah, it sure is. What about it?"

"Well," he said, leaning his cheek onto his palm. "There's just so much you can get up to in a big city like this. I mean, we could go work in Uncle's tea shop for a day or meet unexpectedly in the lower ring or parade around at night in costume or run into each other at a big fancy party or even meet clandestinely in the middle of the night for a torrid love affair while our respective spouses slumber in the next room but instead we're sitting in the palace doing nothing."

Katara returned to her scroll. "Sure are."

Zuko grabbed a brush off the short table beside his chair and spun it idly in his fingers. "Huh."

oO0Oo

* * *

Merry Christmas!

(Believe it or not I actually wrote this one way back at the beginning of the month. It was always going to be short and cracky.)


	23. The Moment You Knew

This is the final part of the Western AU. I wrote all of this in one day. Now I am dead.

* * *

 **Day Twenty-Nine**

The Moment You Knew

(you were in love)

* * *

 **April**

It had been nearly a month now since construction on the new railroad had begun and West Bluhaven was more bustling than ever with out-of-towners coming in droves to help lay the tracks. Katara's small town had never felt more lively and she could smell change in the wind. This expansion would turn the town into a major stopover for those seeking to push further west and that, in turn, would direct the flow of wealth their way. Whether she liked it or not, her quiet town wasn't going to be quiet for much longer.

At the center of this change was, of course, Ember Steel. The mill was busier than ever as each week it delivered a new shipment of tracks to the workers out west. Just about every able-bodied young man Katara knew had gone to work either in the mill or running transports of materials and provisions to the track layers. It seemed nearly everyone had a stake in the project and that meant Ember Steel was hot news both locally and nationally. Katara couldn't pick up a paper without seeing articles about the railroad project. Most such articles waxed lyrical about the effort and Ember Steel's role in it, calling it the next big step in America's expansion, but a few took a more critical stance, referencing the company's shady business practices and poor reputation in the towns it had exploited to financial ruin.

Katara, true to her ongoing opinion of Ember Steel, was quick to side with the nay-sayers. A company didn't just change overnight, and as much good as Zuko had done for their town since moving in, she couldn't help but still be skeptical that this prosperity would last. With the increase in commerce that would come of completing the railroad, Zuko would be in the best position possible to start sucking up their newfound wealth. The more she saw what lay ahead, the more she suspected that this had been Zuko's plan all along. In waiting to exploit them, he'd both improved his company's reputation, building trust with both West Bluhaven and Tofteville, and he'd greatly elevated the amount of wealth he was set to gain once he began hiking prices. This rail deal had killed two birds with one stone.

Katara scowled as she crumpled up the latest copy of the national press. That Zuko was a slyer weasel than she'd given him credit for. Well, unluckily for him, she'd spotted his plot a mile away and there was no way she was going to allow him to get his way so easily. Her town would not become a stomping ground for Ember Steel. Not on her life.

The sound of crunching paper caused her father to raise an eyebrow at her from across the breakfast table. "Is something wrong?" he questioned in that patient tone of his. Doubtless he knew precisely why she'd wadded the news into a ball.

Katara set the ball on the table beside her plate and averted her gaze from his. "Nothing at all," she answered airily. "I was just thinking about our town's impending demise at the hands of Ember Steel."

Hakoda exhaled a tired-sounding sigh and set his fork onto his empty plate with a soft clink. "Katara, we've talked about this a hundred times. Mr. Redford and I have a deal. He is legally barred from raising prices beyond a mutually agreed upon market margin. The documents detailing the agreement are safely locked away in my office, and so long as those documents exist, Mr. Redford can't do as he pleases."

Katara redirected her gaze to her plate, her frown remaining. She just didn't think it was that simple. Crooks would be crooks and deals could be got around. There was a reason people called the west lawless. If Zuko was determined to get what he wanted, he would, deal or no deal.

"By the way," her father spoke again, his tone brightening. "I meant to tell you, your brother will be back in town next month. He's hinted that he may be bringing a lady friend along as well."

At once, the scowl melted from Katara's face. It was replaced by a look of surprise paired with excitement. "Sokka got a girlfriend? Really?"

"That's what I inferred from his letter. I'll admit I'm curious to see what sort of girl she is. Sokka is a fine young man but he always was terrible at wooing. I imagine any girl who would fall for him must have a saintly level of tolerance, eh?" He cracked a grin to punctuate this statement.

Katara brought a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. "No kidding. Maybe she's turned on by bad jokes?"

"That or she's deaf."

The two shared a good laugh, their conversation from a moment earlier all but forgotten.

oOo

 **May**

The first day of May was always a special day for Katara. May meant the spring rains were receding and the chill of winter was a thing of the past. Not to mention the spring blossoms were out in full force. All around town, buildings were decorated with spring colors and pots of flowers were placed along the streets and in front of shops to hail in the loveliest month of the year.

That morning, Katara celebrated by donning a new peony-colored dress she'd spent the better part of winter stitching. Instead of her usual blue clip, she fastened her hair with a pale pink ribbon and decorated it with freshly cut roses to match. Every girl wanted to look her best on May Day.

She was just finishing her breakfast when she was surprised by a knock at the door. Curious who would be calling so early, she scooted out her chair and walked out of the kitchen to greet her visitor. She grabbed the knob and pulled the door open, a cordial "good morning" on her lips, but the greeting died when she looked outside and found no one. The porch was empty.

No, not empty. Looking down, she found a large woven basket nearly overflowing with a myriad of colorful flowers. Seeing a note sticking out from the side, she reached down and plucked it out. _Happy May Day_ was written in a scrawl that looked oddly familiar.

Someone had gifted her a May basket.

Katara's face heated at being the receiver of such a gift. May baskets were often left by smitten young men on girls' porches as a sign of their affection. Did this mean there was a boy in town who fancied her? The note wasn't signed, so she had no way of knowing the gifter's identity. Pleased nonetheless, she scooped up the basket and brought it inside. It would make a lovely decoration for their table.

Later that morning, after her household chores had been completed, Katara set out to do some shopping in town. The weather was beautiful and people of all sorts were out and about, strolling through the main street and admiring the May Day decorations. Today, Katara fully intended to splurge and purchase a cake for her family to share.

She pushed the door open to the baker's shop and the smell of fresh bread and sweets filled her nose. She smiled and inhaled, savoring the delectable scents. Sweets were a rare treat, even for the daughter of the sheriff. As she perused the finely crafted cakes in the case by the till, she heard the bell on the door behind her give a little jingle. A moment later, a presence appeared at her side and Katara glanced up at the newcomer curiously.

"Good morning, Katara," Zuko greeted brightly, his yellow eyes twinkling in the midmorning light.

Katara blinked at the sight of him. He looked very different this morning than usual. His plain work trousers had been traded out for a pair of dark gray slacks and his cotton shirt had been replaced with a crisp dress shirt fastened smartly at the collar with a black long-armed bowtie, all encased by a custom-tailored, finely embroidered vest. His shaggy hair was still shaggy but had clearly had a brush run through it. All in all, he looked very much more like the heir to the Ember Steel empire than he did on a typical day.

Katara tried not to stare. It was all kinds of odd seeing Zuko dressed like a dapper society man. Although she was well aware that he was a man of status, it was easy to think of him as just another guy when he paraded about in sooty factory trousers.

Zuko smiled and reached out to delicately touch the flowers in her hair. "You look lovely today. Pink is a stunning color on you."

Katara blushed and took a step backward to put some distance between them. Maybe it was the way he was dressed, but she was feeling particularly flustered by his closeness.

"What are you doing here, Zuko?" she questioned to cover her lack of composure. "Shouldn't you be at the mill?"

Zuko nodded and she watched him rummage around in his vest for a moment before producing an envelope. "I was on my way to the post office when I saw you walk in here. I figured I ought to stop in and say hi, given it's May Day."

Katara nodded dumbly. For some reason, words were coming harder to her today than usual. Zuko's smile was radiant and it was muddling her emotions. "Um, yeah," she finally said. "It is. May Day."

Zuko's eyes crinkled at the corners and he turned to the case of cakes. He appeared to examine them for a moment and then said, "The selection here is pretty good. Is there a cake in particular you were eyeing?"

Katara turned back to the case as well and her gaze settled on a buttercream frosted spice cake. She set her fingertip on the glass. "I was just thinking that one looks pretty good."

Zuko followed her finger and nodded. "Good choice." Without warning, he raised his hand, signaling the baker, and said, "I'd like this one, please."

"Wait, Zuko—"

Katara's protest was ignored as the baker pulled the cake in question and proceeded to box it up. She could only watch helplessly as Zuko exchanged money with the baker's wife at the till. When the woman looked past Zuko and gave Katara a wink, she blushed and dropped her gaze to the counter. No doubt the whole town would hear of this before the day was out.

On the counter, her eyes were drawn to Zuko's letter. He'd set it down when he went to fish out his wallet and her gaze wandered to the address, painstakingly written in Zuko's tidy script. Her eyes widened. She recognized that handwriting.

Before she could blink, a box was being deposited in her hands and Zuko's dazzling smile was once again directed at her. "Here, Katara. Happy May Day."

Katara took the box and tentatively her eyes rose to meet his. His golden eyes were far too handsome to belong to someone so devilish. Despite herself, she gave him a teeny smile. "Thanks, Zuko. Happy May Day."

oOo

It was around midmonth when Sokka returned as promised. His arrival was met with many hugs and a whole roasted turkey courtesy of Katara and Kanna. The two had slaved away all day preparing all of Sokka's favorites. This would be his first trip home in nearly a year and a half and they knew how much he'd be missing the comfort of a home-cooked meal.

Sokka wasted no time in introducing his much anticipated girlfriend. She was a pretty and surprisingly bold girl named Suki who worked in the accounting office down the street from where he was doing is apprenticeship. The whole family took to her quickly, delighted by her confidence and intelligence. Kanna in particular was very pleased that Sokka had found a girl with an actual education instead of a vapid rancher's daughter. Katara too took to Suki quickly, happy to finally have another girl around to talk to.

Of course, the good mood quickly fled when the topic of conversation inevitably shifted to current events. Sokka, like Katara, very clearly disapproved of their father's decision to allow Ember Steel to take over their mill.

"I can't believe you let those crooks get a foothold in our town!" he mirrored Katara's own protests, laying his palm flat on the table. "You must've seen the news about them, Dad. They're criminals, plain and simple, and now they have control of West Bluhaven."

Hakoda shook his head. "Calm yourself, Sokka. They don't have control of anything. I negotiated very carefully with them before allowing the purchase."

Sokka didn't look convinced. "And you think they're going to honor those negotiations?" He shook his head violently. "I've seen how they operate. They're dirty and underhanded and they will go to any lengths to get their way." He placed both hands on the table and leaned forward, his eyebrows furrowing seriously. "There are even rumors that Ozai offed his own dad to take control of the company. These guys aren't just bad news; they're dangerous."

Both of Katara's eyebrows shot up at Sokka's declaration. As much as she disliked Ember Steel, that seemed like a bit much. Hiking up prices, sure. But patricide? That just sounded like the rumor mill at work. "Ozai can't really be that bad, can he?" she vocalized these thoughts. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you that they're evil, but that seems a little extreme."

Sokka surprised her by shaking his head. "You wouldn't think so, but I can believe it. That whole family has a reputation for being sociopaths. They lie as easily as they breathe and they don't care who they hurt as long as there's something to gain from it. Frankly, they're terrifying."

Katara pursed her lips, staying her protests. Oddly, she found herself wanting to defend Zuko's family. As much as she distrusted him, to call Zuko a sociopath didn't sit right with her.

She thought of his radiant smile on May Day—the way the sunlight had lit up his eyes and the sincerity in his expression when he'd told her she looked nice in pink. He wasn't acting, was he? Nobody could fake a smile like that. Moreover, a sociopath wouldn't leave an unsigned May basket at her door.

Still, she held her tongue. Was she really going to believe Zuko over Sokka?

No. Perish the thought. Clearly she was spending too much time with Zuko.

oOo

 **June**

June marked the official start of Summer. It also meant that if the track construction remained on schedule Katara would only have to deal with Zuko for three more months. This was a fact she reminded him of often.

"I have to hand it to you. If nothing else, you're efficient."

Katara was wandering through the mill, performing her routine inspection of the place to make sure Zuko was behaving. Zuko, as usual, walked in step beside her. He wore a contented little smile and didn't rise to her baiting.

"To think you would complete a three-year project in just a single year. Perhaps you're exploiting labor somewhere I can't see?"

This time, Zuko answered. "As a matter of fact, I have a whole army of hamsters running in little wheels in the basement. It's how I generate heat for the furnaces. I go downstairs and whip them when you're not looking."

Katara turned an unimpressed glower on him. In reality, she was trying her hardest not to laugh. Zuko apparently could tell because he cracked a smile and his eyes crinkled in the way that they always did when he found something she did amusing.

Katara managed to hold the look just long enough to say, "You fantastic bastard." Then her composure crumbled and she began giggling.

Zuko joined her and the two of them earned odd looks from a group of workers tending to one of the forges.

When they completed their tour, the two escaped to the yard for some fresh air. The mill was always stifling in the summer. Over the winter, Zuko had crafted some benches from iron and installed several freestanding trellises which Katara had planted a little garden within in the spring. Now it was a merry little corner of color and the two of them often sat together and sipped lemonade when the weather was nice. Today was one such day and a full pitcher of lemonade already sat waiting for them, courtesy of Jee.

Katara flopped onto her usual seat and fanned herself with a hand. "It's only June and already it's this hot," she moaned as Zuko joined her and began pouring the lemonade into cups. Zuko proffered up one of the cups to her which she took gratefully. Jee was the best lemonade maker she knew—an odd thing for a man who'd spent his life on a ship to be good at, but then she supposed the lemons helped to protect against scurvy during long sea voyages. "I'll tell you what, when you leave, Jee can stay. He's benign and he provides a crucial service."

Zuko smiled and set the pitcher aside. "I'll tell him you said that. He's waited his whole life to be told he's benign."

Katara sniggered and took a sip from her cup. It was an awfully nice day. She was, in all honesty, going to miss this when summer ended. Perhaps whoever bought the mill next would still allow her to come around and lounge in her garden. Beside her, Zuko exhaled a little sigh and turned his face to the sky. He closed his eyes and a soft smile tugged at his mouth as he basked in the warm sunlight. She took a moment to covertly study his face. He didn't look like a dangerous sociopath. Nor did he look like a crook, for that matter. He appeared just the same as any other young man.

It had been nine months—nearly ten—since he'd first taken over the steelworks and he'd yet to do anything crooked. Katara was loathe to admit it, but it really didn't seem like he had any intention of doing anything dastardly.

Perhaps she'd been wrong about him?

She shook her head. No, surely not. _Companies don't just change_ , she reminded herself. There must be something he was hiding from her. Some terrible secret he kept under lock and key. _Well, in three months it won't be my problem anymore_ , she reasoned. With this thought in mind, she too leaned back and enjoyed the sun on her skin.

oOo

 **July**

Two more months. When had she begun counting down the time she and Zuko had left together?

Just two months. Then he would be out of her hair for good. She would force him to slither on back to wherever it was he'd come from and she'd never have to think about him again. No more check-ins. No more fear of economic collapse. No more Ember Steel.

A few months ago, that thought would've made her happy. Now, she wasn't so sure of her feelings. She still didn't trust Zuko, of course, but the thought of him leaving caused a feeling of almost loneliness to writhe like a worm inside her. She'd been a second shadow to Zuko for nearly a year now and she supposed she'd gotten used to having him around. She found herself thinking about how her life would change once she chased him out, and instead of relief, she found only emptiness. What was she going to do with her afternoons? Who was she going to complain about at the dinner table? Who was going to have snowball fights with her come winter? Who was going to spontaneously carry her groceries and buy her cakes? Who was going to leave May flowers at her door?

Could it be that she actually…maybe liked Zuko? Just a little?

Katara shook her head vigorously and quickened her pace through town. No. Such thoughts were abominable. Unthinkable. She couldn't like Zuko. The sky would have to turn green and the sea orange before she would ever seriously entertain such a notion.

As her feet carried her past Ember Steel's town office, she was stopped, just like in March, by voices coming from inside. This time, however, she could hear them loud and clear. Zuko and his visitor sounded like they were standing just on the other side of the door.

"Zuko, be reasonable!" The voice belonged to a woman but it was different than the voice of the woman she'd seen exiting his office back in March. This voice was lower and lacked the poignant edge of the voice of the woman from before. "Think about what you're throwing away."

"I'm not throwing anything away. The way I see it, I stand only to gain from this move."

"Gain?" the woman sounded incredulous. "Zuko, if you go through with this, you'll lose your friends, all respect—"

"I don't need their respect." Zuko's voice was firm. Hard.

Katara's heart thudded in her chest as she listened to this conversation that she was certain she was not meant to overhear.

"And what? You think they'll let you just walk away after a betrayal like that? Even for a Redford, there are limits to how brazenly a person can act before they have to face repercussions for their actions."

Katara couldn't have moved if she wanted to. Her feet were stuck in place as her heart hammered against her ribcage. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't want to believe it.

"It's already been done, Mai. At 11 AM tomorrow, I'm seizing full control of Ember Steel. All production and sales decisions will henceforth be up to me."

She'd heard enough. She'd heard more than enough. She wished she could unhear it. Anger coupled with confusion burned in Katara's throat like bile as she pushed her legs into motion. She needed to warn her dad.

As she ran for home, tears pricked at the backs of her eyes. She scrubbed her eyes, refusing to let them fall. She wasn't sad. Not in the slightest. She was just angry. Angry for ever thinking she could trust Zuko Redford.

She repeated this thought like a mantra over and over in her head the whole way home. Surely if she just kept saying it, it would become true.

oOo

"Your father?" Kanna questioned, her gray eyebrows rising high on her wrinkled forehead. "He rode for Tofteville this morning, remember? He'll be back tomorrow morning for his meeting with that Redford boy. Whatever matter you need to discuss with him will have to wait until after that."

Katara shook her head in disbelief. She'd completely forgotten about her father's trip. Normally, she didn't think twice when her father said he was going to be away. He'd been riding out to meet with Mayor Beifong in Tofteville frequently since construction on the railroad began. It was far easier for him to make the trip out there than it was for the aging mayor to come to West Bluhaven. Today, however, she cursed his leaving. There was no way to get a warning to him on the road. She was going to have to wait until he returned tomorrow and hope she got to him before Zuko did.

She cursed aloud as she ran to her room and threw herself onto her bed. It just figured that her dad would be away the day Zuko finally decided to show his true colors.

Sleep came slowly to Katara that night. Anger was making her chest hurt. She'd really begun to think that maybe Zuko wasn't so bad. He'd been nothing but kind and considerate toward her and the people of West Bluhaven since he'd arrived last August and now…she'd just learned that was all a lie. He didn't care about any of them. The favors he'd done for her; all the times he'd made her laugh—it had all been fake.

The Redfords lie as easily as they breathe, Sokka had said. He'd been right.

oOo

The next morning, Katara woke early. She was determined to wait at her father's office until he showed up. That way she could be sure she met him first.

She donned her old blue dress, willfully ignoring the peony pink one hanging just beside it, and fastened her hair with its normal blue clip. She brushed her teeth and fed the chickens and when her morning preparations were done, she grabbed an apple from the kitchen and departed for the sheriff's office.

The only officer present when she arrived was Deputy Hanook, who was fast asleep at his desk. Katara didn't bother waking him. She seated herself in her father's cushioned chair and set her eyes on the clock, watching it tick away the minutes. She was praying that her father would come straight to the office and not stop at home first. She didn't know what she was going to do if Zuko showed up before he did. She wasn't prepared to deal with him just yet.

Luckily, her father was a punctual man, and a quarter to eleven she heard the clip-clop of horse hooves outside the office. She heard her father's voice as he gave orders to another one of his deputies and a moment later he was walking through the door, his brown face and blue eyes the same as they'd been the morning previous. Katara wasted no time in rising from her seat and rushing toward him.

"Dad, we've got a huge problem," she told him urgently, grasping the front of his vest.

"Katara? What are you doing here?" he questioned, confused. "What problem?"

Oh, thank whatever god may be listening that he was here. She still had time to warn him. "It's Zuko. He's coming!"

Hakoda raised a brow. "Yes? We do have a meeting scheduled in—" he glanced up at the clock "—twelve minutes. I certainly hope he's coming."

Katara shook her head. "No. You don't understand. He's going to seize control of the mill. He's going to betray West Bluhaven!"

This time, her words appeared to actually make it through to him. Hakoda's eyebrows furrowed and he grasped her shoulders. "Katara, what do you mean? Explain to me what's going on."

Katara nodded. "I heard him talking about it. He said that at 11 AM today he was going to take full control of Ember Steel."

The corners of Hakoda's mouth turned down in confusion. He looked like he was trying to make sense of what she was saying. "Katara, that's—"

Before he could finish whatever it was he'd planned to say, a sudden commotion outside stopped him in his tracks. The father-daughter duo turned to the door. That sounded almost like…

A loud crack split the air, followed by yelling and the startled whinnying of horses. Not a second later, another crack was heard and somewhere down the road a woman screamed.

Katara looked at her father in fright. There was only one thing that made a sound like that.

Hakoda's expression sobered and he turned around to reach for the door but the piece of wood flew open, slamming into the wall with a loud bang, and then strange men Katara didn't recognize were filing into the office, pistols drawn.

Thinking fast, Hakoda made a grab for his own pistol, but the intruders were faster. The one in the front grabbed her father around the neck and raised his gun to his head while his buddies appeared to search the room with their eyes.

"He's not here, boss," a younger looking man with a black scarf covering his mouth and nose called back to a brown-haired man with bushy sideburns walking leisurely at the back.

The man the black-scarfed goon had called boss stopped just inside the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's quite alright," he spoke calmly. His manner of speech was oddly articulate for the leader of a group of outlaws. "That's what we get for arriving early. It just means we'll have to start without him." He nodded to the goon holding her father and the outlaw grabbed Hakoda's hair, forcing his head up to look at the boss. "Now, then. I believe you have some paperwork our employer's very interested in getting his hands on." He glanced past Hakoda to the wall where a large steel safe was mounted. "It's in there, I imagine. It would save us a lot of trouble if you'd be generous enough to tell me the code."

Hakoda glared defiantly back at the man. He was proud even with a gun held to his temple. "I refuse."

The large man sighed. "I thought you might." He glanced in Katara's direction then and made a signal with his hand. Before Katara could figure out who he was signaling to, a meaty hand was grabbing her hair and hauling her onto her toes. Katara yelped in surprise and pain as she was manhandled toward the door. The boss turned back to her father. "That's your daughter, I presume. The family resemblance is striking. I'll tell you what, while you rethink your answer, my boys will take her outside for a little game. The game's called five shots. The rules are very simple. One of my boys will shoot four shots, one at a time, while you think, and if you don't give me the answer I'm looking for, the fifth shot will go through her pretty forehead."

Katara's face paled as she was marched out the door and onto the street. She managed to toss her father one final terrified look over her shoulder before she was being blinded by bright sunlight.

Out on the street, two more thugs waited with a group of horses. A safe distance away, onlookers watched in fear as she was dragged out of the office by her hair and down the short wooden steps to the road. Not ten feet away, one of her father's men lay unmoving in a pool of his own blood. Katara screwed her eyes shut, not wanting to witness the lifeless body of a man she'd known since she was small.

She wasn't allowed the luxury for long. No sooner had they cleared the steps, she was being tossed gracelessly onto the street. She heard a cry of her name and opened her eyes to see Bato in the crowd. His eyes were filled with panic and he had a meat cleaver in one hand, probably the closest thing to a weapon he could grab on short notice. Unfortunately, such a weapon would do little against a band of pistol-wielding outlaws.

"Alright, girly. You heard the boss," the man who had tossed her spoke, turning her attention back to him. He'd pulled out his own pistol and as she watched in fear, he leveled it right at her face. "Shot number one. Best hope my aim's not become lame. Been a while since I last had to shoot a person with any kind of finesse."

Katara thought he might wait a tick—drag out the shot to maximize her fear—but no sooner were the words out of his mouth then he squeezed the trigger, aiming a shot right by her left hand. Katara screamed as the bullet impacted with the ground, causing dry earth to splatter over her side.

"Well, shucks. That wasn't half bad, if I do say so m'self. Let's see if we can get the next one a few centimeters closer."

Katara shook her head. "Please!" she begged, unable to find any other words through the panic in her brain and the blood rushing in her ears. "Please…!"

"No can do, little missy. It's not every day I get to shoot at a girl pretty as you. Really gets the old blood going, y'know what I mean?"

This statement was punctuated by another shot, this one landing just by the toe of her boot. Katara screamed again and this time a sob tore out of her throat. She was going to die. She was going to die in the street like an animal for the pleasure of this terrible man.

"Oops. M'hand got a little happy there. Forgot to announce the shot. That was number two, by the way. I wonder if dear old dad has coughed up the code yet? I'd check, but I'd hate fer ya to try n' make a break for it when my back was turned."

Katara just continued to sob in terror as the outlaw rotated the nose of his gun, seemingly deciding where to shoot next.

"Alright. Number three's halfway to home so we gotta make it a good one. Any suggestions?"

Katara squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her legs to her chest. She wanted out of here. She wanted to be anywhere else but here. Another shot split the air, and Katara nearly screamed again, but then her brain registered a difference from the shots before. This wasn't the sharp crack of pistol-fire. This one was far deeper—a familiar sound she'd heard enough times to recognize anywhere.

Pop-BOOM.

She barely had time to be confused. The next thing she knew, the trigger-happy outlaw was screaming, his gun-arm having erupted in a shower of red.

A gasp rose through the crowd of onlookers and men and women scattered left and right, running for their lives. Katara looked around wildly but she couldn't see where the shot had come from. Nor, apparently, could the other two outlaws. They whirled around, pointing their guns every which way as they attempted to root out their assailant.

Pop-BOOM.

Pop-BOOM.

One after the other, the remaining two outlaws fell just like their comrade. Their pistols clattered to the ground from now-useless arms and they swore loudly as they were wracked with the excruciating pain of having their limbs nearly blown straight off by a Winchester rifle.

With the three men down for the count, the band's mystery assailant finally deigned to show himself. Katara was the only person to be unsurprised when the tall, dark figure of Zuko dropped down from the roof of her father's office, a rifle slung over his shoulder. Katara's eyes traveled up to his face and she saw an expression there that she'd never seen him wear before. He was looking down at the men he'd dropped with a face colder than the Alaskan tundra.

"Zuko…?" Katara spoke his name hesitantly. Now that her life was no longer in immediate danger, the feeling first and foremost in her mind was confusion. What was going on? Why had Zuko shot those men? Weren't they here on his orders?

Zuko turned to look at her and his expression immediately softened. His eyebrows furrowed into a worried frown and he rushed to her side. "Katara!" he called as he crouched down in front of her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" He patted her down with his hands, looking for wounds.

Katara batted his hands away and shook her head. "Zuko, I don't understand. Those were your own men. Why did you shoot them?"

Zuko's eyebrows pushed together in clear confusion. "My own men? What in the world are you talking ab—"

"Well, well, well. I was wondering when you would finally decide to show up."

Both Katara and Zuko looked at the door to the sheriff's office where the voice of the outlaws' boss had sounded from. The man was leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes trained on Zuko. "All of this would have been for nothing without the man of the hour."

Zuko very clearly recognized the man, because he leapt to his feet and tightened his grip on his rifle. "Zhao?" he questioned, sounding confused. "What are you doing here? What's the meaning of this?"

The boss—Zhao—uncrossed his arms and stepped slowly out onto the street. One of his hands traveled to a holster on his belt where Katara could see the butt of an expensive-looking revolver peeking out of his jacket. "You should know exactly what this is about," he answered, the haughty smirk never once leaving his face. "Did you really think Mr. Redford would let you run off with a whole subset of his company? You were given the reins of Ember Steel because he expected you to run it responsibly in accordance with the family legacy. Instead, you took the whole horse and tried to run away with it. You can only imagine Mr. Redford's disappointment."

Zuko took a step forward, putting himself squarely between Katara and this Zhao who apparently worked for his father. "The company was given to me to do what I pleased with. I was within my legal rights to break off from Empire. He shouldn't have any complaints."

Zhao sighed and shook his head. "My, Zuko. Your time away from home has made you recalcitrant. You were expected to run the business, not take it over. In transferring ownership to yourself, you've left Mr. Redford in a sticky position. A position there's really only one way out of."

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "He means to have me killed."

Katara sucked in a breath. Zuko's father _what?_

Zhao's smirk widened. "A little slow on the uptake, but I knew you'd get there eventually." With his free hand he reached into the lining of his jacket and produced a file folder which he waved in front of himself tauntingly. "And with this annoying little agreement of yours out of the picture, Mr. Redford will be all set to milk this quaint town for every penny that passes through it once I've delivered your head to him in a bag."

Climbing shakily to her legs, Katara shuffled forward to stand at Zuko's flank. "Like hell he will," she challenged brazenly. "West Bluhaven won't be trampled on by _anyone_."

Zuko nodded, shooting her a smile over his shoulder. Looking back at Zhao, he said, "That's right. And besides," he raised his rifle and trained it on Zhao's chest. "I think you'll find I'm not that easy to kill."

Zhao's smirk didn't falter. "Perhaps not," he agreed, much to Katara's confusion. He cocked his head slightly and casually slid his gaze over to Katara. "But she is."

Before Katara could so much as blink, Zhao was already in motion. Like lightning, he grasped his gun from its holster and fired a single shot.

What followed seemed to happen in slow motion. Katara's eyes opened wide in shock. Her gaze fixed on the smoking barrel of the gun as her brain checked all the signals from her body, trying to find the spot where the bullet had entered her. It took at least three seconds for her to realize that her nerves weren't sending any distress signals to her brain. She hadn't been shot.

By that time, Zuko's rifle was already clattering onto the street. Katara could only watch in horror as his dark hair sunk slowly down her field of vision and he crumpled to the ground. It was another two second before she registered what had happened.

Zuko had thrown himself in front of her. He'd taken the bullet meant for her.

Still very much in shock, her eyes travelled down to look at the young man lying in a heap at her feet. There was a hole in his shirt right over his stomach, and as she watched, red blossomed from the area like a rose unfurling to greet the summer.

In front of her, Zhao laughed. "Oh, predictable Zuko. A bleeding heart right to the end."

Katara could barely hear him. She sank to her knees and placed her hands on Zuko's chest. His eyes were open and he was looking at her with a shell-shocked expression. He was breathing, but his breaths were coming in quick, short gasps.

"We all tried to tell you that kindness of yours would be your downfall. You were simply never cut out to be a Redford."

Slowly, Katara raised her face to look at Zhao. Zuko was dying and this abhorrent man was taunting him. Zuko had traded his life for hers, and Zhao was mocking him for it. She couldn't understand.

She couldn't understand this man at all.

Zhao shook his head and holstered his revolver. With one final disdainful sniff at the boy he'd shot, he turned away and began walking back to his horse. Behind him, his men followed suit.

Blood roared in Katara's ears.

She couldn't understand.

She couldn't understand… but she did know one thing. Zhao needed to pay. Zuko had traded his life for hers. Now she would take Zhao's life as payment for his.

Her eyes still open wide, Katara reached over Zuko and grabbed the fallen rifle. In one deft motion, she pulled herself to her feet and raised the rifle the way she'd seen Zuko hold it a million times.

Katara was no markswoman, but Zhao was only a few feet away and at such a range even she was hard pressed to miss. Zhao was just placing his foot on his horse's stirrup in preparation mount when she lined the nose of the rifle with his back and, pausing only a moment to make sure her aim was true, squeezed the trigger.

 _Pop-BOOM._

Dead silence followed as Zhao's grip on his horse's saddle failed and his body slid to the ground with a thunk. Every person in the vicinity, friend and foe alike, stared at her, their mouths opened in shock. Even Bato watched her with an expression that could only be called utter awe.

As if spurred by her initiative, the crowd suddenly burst into motion, the men and women Katara had grown up with falling on the remaining outlaws with fists flying and nails scratching. Katara barely saw them. She dropped the rifle and ran back to Zuko's side.

Zuko's eyes were still open but they were hazy. He was losing blood fast and she could tell that he was on the verge of passing out. Thinking quickly, she tore off her dress, leaving her only in her underclothes, and pressed the fabric to his midsection. She needed to stop the bleeding. She needed to save Zuko's life. She _had to._

"K-Katara," he croaked her name, his eyes trained on her as if she was the only thing tethering him to consciousness.

"Don't speak!" she chastised him hotly. Her throat and eyes hurt. She felt like all her emotions were liable to come erupting out of her, tearing her to bitty pieces. "Just don't. You need to focus on living right now."

Zuko's gaze didn't stray from her face. She watched tears appear on his cheeks and was confused until she realized they belonged to her.

"You're _going_ to live," she insisted, willing the universe to make her words truth. "I'll tell you what. If you promise to live, I'll let you keep the mill. You can move Ember Steel's headquarters to West Bluhaven for all I care. Just please..." She wiped her eyes, trying to stop from drowning Zuko in her own tears. "Please don't die."

Katara started in surprise when one of Zuko's hands moved and brushed her leg. "I was…" he croaked out again, flagrantly disobeying her orders, "…always…hoping you…would say that."

As if that one sentence sapped all his energy, Zuko's eyes fell shut and his hand went limp, falling back to the ground with a dull thud. At once, Katara's panic centers kicked into gear. "Zuko?" she called, giving him a shake. "Zuko!"

She was nearly scared out of her skin when a hand appeared on her shoulder. "Let him be, Katara. I've already sent for the doctor."

Katara looked up to find her father hunched over her. He looked a little manhandled but no worse for wear. At the sight of him, healthy and whole, she turned on her knees and buried her face in his chest. He accommodated her by lowering one knee to the ground and in response she wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed him tightly.

Hakoda squeezed her back and raised a hand to pet her hair the way he used to when she was a child. "Now, don't cry, Katara. Yugoda will get him patched up and he'll be right as rain before you know it."

Katara took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded against her father's front. She prayed to every god she could name that her father was right.

If Zuko died…

She couldn't think it. Zuko couldn't die. Not after what he'd done for her. She'd never be able to forgive herself.

"I was wrong about him, Dad," she told her father's chest. "I was wrong the whole time."

Hakoda made a sound of understanding in his throat. "You be sure to tell him that when he wakes up. I'm sure he'll be very happy hear it."

oOo

The following few days were hectic and rife with anxiety for Katara. All the outlaws who hadn't managed to escape had been rounded up and thrown in jail. They were, of course, thoroughly questioned about the reason for their attack. However, it soon became apparent that Zhao's goons didn't know enough about the details of the job they were asked to do to craft a strong case against Ozai and Empire. This meant Hakoda's hands were effectively tied. Without a confession from Zhao, they had no solid proof of Ozai's involvement; just witness testimonies. This was a very difficult reality to accept because everyone who knew the truth wanted justice for Zuko.

Coupled with that was the matter of Katara's own actions on that fateful day. Even if the law was willing to ignore what she'd done, Katara would never forget that she'd purposefully and calculatedly murdered a man. Zhao had been evil and had deserved death for what he'd done, but that didn't stop the memory of putting a bullet in his back from haunting her at night when she settled down to sleep. Never had Katara ever imagined she'd carry the weight of a man's life on her shoulders, and now that she crossed that line, she felt unclean—tainted. You couldn't unkill a person.

Still, she knew that if she were to be sent back to that moment, she'd do it again. The thought of Zhao riding away after what he and his men had done caused the fury she'd felt that day to reignite inside her.

Of course, the matter that weighed most heavily on her was Zuko. It had been three days, and while she'd been assured many times by Yugoda that he was very much alive and on the road to recovery, she hadn't been allowed into the clinic to see him at all. She checked back at least three times a day, but she was very firmly turned away each time. This put her anxiety on pins and needles. Sure, the doctor _said_ he was recovering, but was he really? If he was really getting better then why wasn't she allowed in to see him?

On the fourth day, however, that Katara was finally granted visitation rights. The moment Yugoda gave her the go-ahead, Katara raced past her to the small alcove where the clinic's inpatient beds were situated.

She found him just as she'd been told he would be. He was dressed in a patient's frock and his complexion was perhaps a little more pale than she was comfortable with, but he was sitting up and awake and when he saw her a bright smile spread across his face. "Katara!"

Katara wasted no time. She rushed to his bedside and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "I'm so glad you're okay," she cried into his shoulder. She didn't care that embracing him like this, particularly in a public place, was wildly inappropriate. Nothing could have stopped her from doing it. She was just so relieved to see him alive. She'd thought she was going to lose him.

If Zuko minded being hugged, he didn't let it on. Rather, he laughed and said, "What's this? I thought you were itching to get rid of me."

Katara abruptly pulled back and gave him a disapproving look. "I thought you were going to _die_ and _that's_ the first thing you say to me?" Her left eyebrow twitched and her voice turned petulant as she said, "If you're dissatisfied with my concern for your wellbeing then you are welcomed to leave."

Zuko's eyes crinkled and his smile turned fond. "Now, there's the Katara I know."

Heat rose to Katara's cheeks and she turned her face to hide the evidence of how flustered his words made her. She played with her skirt with her fingers for a moment before she finally peeked back up at him. He was still smiling, his golden eyes aglow from the open window behind her.

Seeing him like this—his boyish face illuminated by cheerful sunlight and his mouth pulled into a sincere smile—she wondered how she'd ever thought he was evil.

Which reminded her. She had something to say to him.

"Um, Zuko," she started, her tone turning serious. "I think I—no. I owe you an apology."

At once, Zuko's smile faltered and his eyebrows came together in confusion. "For what?"

Again, Katara's cheeks turned pink. Oh, this was just so hard to say. "You know for what. For how I've treated you this past year." Her hands found the front of her dress again and she twisted it in her fingers. "I acted like a proper witch, following you around and accusing you. You never did anything to deserve that kind of hostility. I was being close-minded and stubborn and…and I'm _sorry_. You're actually a really good person, but I was too wrapped up in my presumptions about you to see that."

The whole time she was speaking, Zuko had said nothing. He merely watched her without expression. When she finished, he nodded slowly. She could see his brain working behind his eyes as he considered what she'd said. At last, he said, "Thank you. I'm happy that your opinion of me has changed. But you know…" He tilted his head and his eyes were oddly serious as he continued, "It's precisely that stubbornness of yours that I like best about you. The life I came from didn't have people who would talk back to me. I appreciate that you've always been open with me about your feelings. I far prefer your honesty over masks of politeness."

This gave Katara pause. Zuko actually liked her bullheadedness? He couldn't really mean that. Giving him an unsure look, she asked, "Really?"

He nodded. His lips pulled up into a smile again and he said, "You have no idea how refreshing it's been to be put in my place. The moment you told me to pack my things and "find somewhere else to ruin" I knew I was going to love this town."

Katara's mouth opened and closed in surprise. "Surely, you're joking."

Zuko chuckled and shook his head. "I assure you I'm not." His eyes crinkled again in that way that told her he was being one-hundred percent genuine. "I really do love living here. And I promise I won't do anything nefarious with the mill. So, if it's okay with you, I'd like to stay here."

Katara released her skirt, allowing the hem to fall back to the floor. Slowly, she shook her head in utter bafflement. She simply couldn't wrap her mind around this bizarre young man. He was the son of the most wealthy and powerful man in America, and he wanted to stay here in her humble little West Bluhaven because he enjoyed being verbally abused by her.

Well, she wasn't going to question his reasoning. The man had taken a bullet for her. As far as she was concerned, he could stay as long as he wanted. Pulling her mouth into a tiny, teasing smile, she said, "I believe the agreement was that you would be allowed to stay so long as you managed not to die. You've obviously upheld your end of the agreement, so I suppose I've no right to deny you."

Zuko's smile widened and his eyes danced with happiness. "Thank you, Katara."

Katara returned his smile and shook her head. More seriously, she said, "There's no need to thank me. You earned your right to be here a long time ago. However…" Her eyebrows slanted low over her eyes and she held a finger up in front of his face. "I do still very much intend to continue my daily inspections. Somebody needs to make sure you're not working those hamsters of yours too hard."

Zuko's eyes crinkled again and he let out a chuckle. "Of course. I'll be delighted to have you."

Katara's smile returned. Throwing propriety to the dogs, she leaned forward and wrapped him up in another hug. She was just so happy to have him back. Seeing him alive and recovering, all her other problems suddenly didn't feel so great. So what if Ozai couldn't answer for his crimes just yet? So what if the memory of killing Zhao still haunted her dreams? She and Zuko would face these things together. By far, the scariest thing she'd faced from that day was the prospect of losing him. Compared to that, those other two matters were as significant as raindrops in a lake.

"Um, Katara."

Katara grunted. "What?"

"Your father's right behind you."

At once, Katara ripped away from Zuko and whirled around. Sure enough, Hakoda stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised high on his forehead.

Katara's face lit up like a candle. "D-Dad!" she squeaked. "What are you doing h—I mean, this isn't what it looks like!"

Hakoda pushed off the doorframe to enter the room fully and his arms uncrossed to move to his hips. Nobody was more surprised than Katara when one corner of his mouth lifted upward in a small, knowing smirk. "I did say I was happy that you were warming to Mr. Redford," spoke in a slow drawl. "But maybe slow it down just a tad."

oO0Oo

* * *

Okay, so that last bit was sort of an omake. Hakoda needed to be there. It was only fitting.

Great begonias, Batman. That was another long one. It ended up being even longer than Day 18. I didn't think that was possible, but here we are. I know it's slightly late, but in my defense, I wrote the last sentence at 11:52 PM on the 29th, so technically I finished it by the deadline. #winning

I know I skipped a ton of prompts. I really wanted to write for all of them, but I just didn't have time. I barely managed to scratch this one out. Still, it's better than 2012. I at least managed to do most of the prompts. (And there's still tomorrow's, too.) So…success? Kind of?

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed this rushed finale to the Western AU. This last part didn't end up matching with the prompt as well as I'd hoped, but that's just how these things are sometimes. Stories don't always go the way you intend them to. I'm just glad I was able to wrap it up in a timely fashion. I didn't want to make everyone wait for this. I've already got enough of a reputation for leaving stories unfinished.

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering: No. Deputy Hanook never woke up. He's still at his desk sleeping.


	24. Proposal

It's the last one, my dudes.

* * *

 **Day Thirty**

Proposal

* * *

The moment her feet touched solid earth, Katara promptly fell to her knees and cried.

In the wake of the devastation that was the outcome of the siege of the North, it was all she could really do.

She cried for Aang, who had been taken by the spirits and turned into a monster. She cried for Sokka, who she'd been unable to find in the destruction wrought by the Ocean Spirit. She cried for Yue, who had given her own life so that the Moon Spirit could live again. She cried for the thousands of men and women drowned beneath the icy sea, Fire Nation and Northern Water Tribe alike. And she cried for all the lives that were being snuffed out even now by the boy who had once been her dearest friend.

It had been a week now since the incident that had sparked what was being called the spirits' judgement. Already, two coastal Earth Kingdom towns had been demolished along La's warpath toward the Fire Nation and just about everyone knew on some level that the destruction wouldn't stop there. This was the spirits' retribution for one hundred years of war, they were saying. The massacre of the Northern Water Tribe was proof that no nation was safe.

How had things come to this? Katara tried to rationalize it in her mind but couldn't. A scant seven days ago, she and Aang were being trained by Master Pakku. Sokka was having the time of his life making googly eyes at Princess Yue. Even though they were at war, they were happy. They had each other and they had hope. Now, the world was under siege by a murderous spirit with all the power of the Avatar at its disposal, her brother was missing, and Yue was dead. Katara herself had just barely made it out of the North alive and that was only thanks to Appa refusing to listen to her desperate pleas to turn back.

Exhausted, Katara picked herself back up and scrubbed the tears away. She gave Appa's nose an encouraging pat before grabbing his reins and leading him into a walk. They needed to find food and a place to rest safely.

oOo

Three more towns.

La's fury was being felt the world over as previously calm ocean waters became unsailable and rivers swelled and flooded villages and residences. Ships were snatched by the waves and slammed into ports. People were forced to flee inland to escape the raging tides.

Katara could do little more than use her waterbending to hold off the destruction where she could so that people could get away. In her head she thanked Yue again and again for giving them back the moon because without waterbending they would be truly helpless.

For two weeks now, Katara had travelled up and down the Earth Kingdom's Northern shore hoping to run into any hint of her brother. In her heart, she believed he was still alive. Aang would never let the Ocean Spirit harm him. That's what she told herself as she searched the coastline day in and day out for Water Tribe wreckages.

When four weeks had passed with no sign, though, Katara's optimism began to fade. While she'd discovered a number of washed up Water Tribe vessels, Sokka was nowhere to be found.

Never before had Katara felt so utterly, achingly lonely. Her heart yearned for the return of the peaceful days before the siege. She began to think she would do anything to just see a familiar face, and it was as she was thinking this that she ran, entirely by chance, into the last person she ever expected to see again.

At first, she didn't recognize him. His fierce ponytail was gone, replaced by about a centimeter of freshly sprouted raven hair. Instead of Fire Nation armor or the white snowsuit he'd warn in the North, he was garbed in a mixture of russet and earthy brown. It was only when she saw his face—saw that telltale red comet-scar that marred the left side of his face—that she knew who he was.

At the same time, he saw her. Their eyes met and at once the feeling Katara got was not fear or anger, nor was it suspicion or even irritation. Rather, against all reason, the feeling that lit inside her like a warm stove in the winter was relief.

She'd wanted a familiar face. He would do.

"Zuko," she called to him, her legs carrying her toward him without hesitation. "You survived."

Zuko didn't make any motion to flee. He stood his ground and allowed her to approach him. She could read tiredness in the lines of his face and also a grim resignation.

"I did," he answered matter-of-factly. His tone was soft, not the normally angry and commanding growl she was accustomed to.

It was an odd moment for Katara, talking to Zuko of all people as if he were a friend she hadn't seen in some time. This was a man she'd never actually had a proper conversation with before—the closest thing to one being the few words they'd spoken to each other during their fight in the Spirit Oasis just four weeks prior.

He looked so much smaller now than he did that day.

"It's really over for us, isn't it," she said in a voice as soft as his. "Everything."

The sharp cry of a gull caused her eyes to turn to the point where the cloud-choked, colorless sky met the ocean. The rocky beach they stood upon crunched like bone under the soles of her shoes as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Somewhere beyond that gray horizon, her brother was either fighting for his life or dead at the bottom of the sea. There was no way of knowing which.

The old, familiar burn of tears welled up behind her eyes. Here she was, having a talk with Zuko as if it were the most normal thing in the world while past the ocean the city of her people was in ruins. It really was the end of the world.

The tears spilled over, making hot, salty tracks on her face. She couldn't have stopped them and she didn't try. There was no one here to be strong for. "Sokka… my brother's gone," she spoke through soft sobs. "I don't know where he is."

There was another crunch of rock and shell and then a warm arm appeared around her shoulders. The contact was a surprise, but Katara couldn't even think about the utter ridiculousness of such a gesture from Zuko when her heart was so full of sorrow and despair. There was simply no room in her thoughts to question it.

"Uncle, too," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Katara lifted her hands to her face and cupped her palms over her eyes as if by doing so she could block out the misery that surrounded her. For a long time, she and Zuko didn't move. She just continued to cry and Zuko continued to offer his silent comfort. It was funny, she thought somewhere in her mind, how quickly the hard lines of war were scuffed away. Four weeks ago, she and Zuko had been enemies. Now, they were all the other had.

When Katara's sobs had subsided somewhat, Zuko finally spoke again.

"I'm going back," he stated without preamble. His eyes were fixed on the steely waves before them and his brow was set in a determined angle. From her vantage point, Katara could see only his good eye and it was bright with conviction. His golden iris flicked down to look at her and he said, "Do you want to come?"

Katara took a deep, shuddering breath and when she exhaled it was smoother. She touched his hand on her shoulder to tell him she was alright now and he withdrew it. Still holding his gaze, she nodded once, soberly. "Yeah," she answered, injecting some of her own conviction into her tone. "I do."

oO0Oo

* * *

 _Weep not for roads untraveled._

 _Weep not for sights unseen._

 _May your love never end,_

 _And if you need a friend,_

 _There's a seat here alongside me_.

\- Roads Untraveled by Linkin Park

* * *

Yeah, that's right. I modeled this whole collection around a song by Linkin Park. Fight me.

Not quite the sort of proposal you were expecting, eh? I had to subvert expectations one last time. For posterity.

I'll bet a lot of you could tell that my inspiration for this final story came from Final Fantasy X. I thought it would be interesting if Koizilla was something more akin to Sin—just a giant unstoppable monster that attacks indiscriminately. Could you imagine if La had never relinquished control of Aang and instead used his power to go on a furious rampage? What a different show that would be. I enjoy exploring these sorts of what-if scenarios.

And with that, Zutara Month 2018 comes to a close. What a ride it's been! I didn't complete every prompt like I wanted to. But 24/30 isn't bad at all. In just over a month I wrote nearly 70k words. That's something to be proud of.

There were so many things I thought I'd say in my final author's note, but now I can't remember any of them. I guess I'll just say thanks for reading. I had a blast and I hope you did too. Maybe I'll see some of you back in my next story, whatever it may be.

Until then, peace!


End file.
